Unprecedented discovery aboard submarine headed straight for Australia
Three ‘narco-submarines’ smuggling $12 billion worth of drugs from South America to Australia have been intercepted by the Colombian navy in a six-week global drug bust.
The final phase of Operation ‘Orion’ resulted in the seizure of 1,400 tons of drugs, including 225 tons of cocaine and 128 tons of marijuana, navy official Orlando Enrique Grisales told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.
More than 400 people were arrested during the October and November crackdown that involved the security services of the United States, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands and several other countries.
Grisales said officials also seized a semi-submersible ship bound for Australia carrying Colombian cocaine, revealing a “new route” of smuggling involving sophisticated boats that can travel a distance of up to 10,000 miles without refueling.
This was the third such ship discovered in the Pacific Ocean and revealed a “new trade route” with advanced boats that can travel a distance of up to 10,000 miles without refueling, Colombian authorities said.
A kilo of cocaine sells for $370,000 in Australia, the official said – about six times more than the price in the United States.
The operation also revealed previously unknown alliances between cartels from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru with groups from Europe and Oceania.
‘It’s not just a pyramid structure like the cartels once were. Today they are organized crime networks that have merged,” Grisales said.
Colombia’s navy has seized three “narco-submarines” smuggling cocaine across the Pacific Ocean from South America to Australia, as part of a massive bust that saw drugs worth more than $8 billion seized in six weeks.
Colombia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocaine, mainly to the United States and Europe.
Meanwhile, Australians are the highest users of cociane per capita in the world, according to the OECD.
Last year, the South American country set a new record for cocaine production and the cultivation of the coca leaf from which it is made.
The final phase of Operation ‘Orion’ resulted in the seizure of 1,400 tons of drugs, including 225 tons of cocaine and 128 tons of marijuana
More than 400 people were arrested during the crackdown in October and November
It comes after Royal Navy commandos intercepted a narco-submarine in September and seized two tonnes of cocaine worth as much as $3 million.
Royal Marines based on patrol ship HMS Trent made the historic bust while on patrol in the Caribbean.