- The men can be seen standing on top of a sinking submersible.
Dramatic footage shows how drug traffickers aboard a narco-submarine heading to the southern coast of Spain were rescued from the sinking ship on Wednesday before being arrested in the middle of the Atlantic.
In a video released by the Spanish Civil Guard and the Spanish Tax Agency, four men, of Colombian nationality, can be seen wearing life jackets standing on a sinking submersible while a customs surveillance boat approaches the ship.
Another clip shows the submarine crew floating in the sea as waves crash against them, next to black barrels, which the crew appear to have clung to to stay afloat.
The men can then be seen climbing a ladder onto the ship, before another video shows them being arrested once they board. The drug traffickers are then seen lying face down while the civil guards handcuff them.
The blue boat was sailing in waters 450 kilometres west of the Cadiz coast when its crew spotted a surveillance boat.
A Narco submarine carrying a shipment of cocaine was intercepted yesterday off the coast of Cádiz, Spain.
The four-man crew, from Colombia, were rescued from the sinking submersible after they intentionally scuttled the ship to get rid of its illicit cargo.
According to the Tax agency, The men surfaced and opened the submarine’s valves, allowing the ship to fill with water and sink to the bottom of the sea, along with its precious cargo.
Police believe the vessel was carrying a large shipment of cocaine given its similarity to previously seized narco-submarines.
The operation, carried out jointly by the Spanish Civil Guard, the National Police and the Tax Agency, began on Monday when authorities received a notice from the United States Anti-Drug Agency.
The DEA had reportedly detected a possible fall between an unknown vessel and a semi-submersible.
The 20-meter blue submarine was eventually spotted off the coast of Cádiz, and authorities successfully intercepted it.
The men were filmed floating in the water, staying afloat with empty black barrels.
The drug traffickers were eventually arrested by the same authorities who helped them out of the water.
It turns out that the customs surveillance ship was already loaded with 900 kilograms of cocaine seized after an operation just a few days earlier.
The surveillance ship sighted a speedboat carrying a shipment of cocaine near the Canary Islands on Saturday after receiving a tip from the British National Crime Agency and the DEA.
Maritime criminals reportedly dumped 9,000kg of cocaine into the ocean as civil guards attempted to catch the drug mules during what was reportedly a six-hour chase. Canary Islands7.
While the speedboat managed to escape and reach the island of La Palma, the authorities discovered the abandoned boat on the beach of Tazacorte, on the island, the next day. Police said the boat matched the one being chased the day before.