A semi-submersible vehicle capable of transporting up to six tons of cocaine has been found after a firefight in northwestern Colombia, local media reported Monday.
The vehicle was heavily guarded at the time of detection. According to police sources, the individuals guarding the vessel open fired at police and burned the vehicle before fleeing the scene.
Police said four secret camps equipped with cooking facilities and other commodities were found near to where the narco-submarine was abandoned.
According to authorities, the 20-meter-long semisubmersible belonged to neo-paramilitary group Los Urabeños and the left-wing guerrilla group FARC, an indication of a partnership that authorities called “a criminal alliance to sell drugs on the international black market.”
The Gulf of Uraba region, where the semi-submersible was found, has traditionally been a battleground between drug traffickers, paramilitaries and guerrillas, due in large part to the crucial drug trafficking corridors found in the area.
A total of 76 semi-submersibles and two submersible narco-submarines have been expropriated by Colombian authorities since 1993.