(Click to enlarge)

If you think we’re winning the “war on drugs” you’d better think again! The Cocaine Sub pictured to the left was seized in Ecuador, just south of the Columbian border on July 2, 2010 prior to its maiden voyage. The 98-foot-long (30-meter-long) fiberglass sub was big enough to hold 6 to 10 tons of cocaine and a 6-member crew. The remote swamp camp where it was built was outfitted to support 50 workers, though only 1 was present at the time of the raid.

Cocaine subs have been used along the Pacific coast and in the Caribbean for several years but earlier versions could only dip just below the surface to avoid detection. With a ballast system never before seen in a cocaine sub, this “new and improved” model appears capable of diving as deep as 65 feet (20 meters) and suggests smugglers are rapidly improving on the more common, semisubmersible designs, which are already difficult to detect.

The earlier versions cost up to $1 million USD to build and were designed to be scuttled if approached by the authorities or when they reached their final destination. In other words, they were built to make a single voyage! It’s unclear what the plans were for the newest design but their relatively small cost, compared to the $100 million cargo they carry, may mean that they are also single-use vessels.

For more information, Google “narco sub” or visit this Wikipedia page.