Three ‘narco-submarines’ smuggling $8 billion worth of drugs from South America to Australia have been intercepted by the Colombian navy in what was a six-week global drug bust.
The latest 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 officer Orlando Enrique Grisales told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
More than 400 people were arrested in the October and November crackdown that involved security agencies from the United States, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands and several other nations.
Grisales said officials also seized a semi-submersible ship headed to Australia with Colombian cocaine, revealing a “new route” of trafficking with sophisticated vessels that can cover a distance of about 10,000 miles without needing to refuel.
“The first was discovered in Colombian waters and thanks to the maps it carried we identified the route,” said Grisales.
The last submarine intercepted during the raid was found off the coast of Clipperton Island in the eastern Pacific.
A kilo of cocaine sells in Australia for up to $240,000, the official said, about six times the price in the United States.
The operation also uncovered previously unknown alliances between cartels from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru with groups from Europe and Oceania.
The Colombian Navy seized three “narco-submarines” trafficking cocaine across the Pacific from South America to Australia, as part of a massive raid that intercepted drugs worth more than $8 billion in six weeks.
The last 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 October and November crackdown.
‘It is not just a pyramidal structure like the cartels were before. Today they are united organized crime networks,’ said Grisales.
Colombia is the largest producer and exporter of cocaine in the world, mainly to the United States and Europe.
Meanwhile, Australians are the world’s largest per capita consumers of cociana, according to the OECD.
Last year, the South American country set a new record in cocaine production and cultivation of the coca leaf from which it is made.
It comes after Royal Navy commandos intercepted a narco-submarine and seized two tonnes of cocaine worth a staggering £1.6bn in September.
Royal Marines based on the patrol ship HMS Trent made the historic bust during a patrol in the Caribbean.