Cocaine-laden sub seized off Mexico
The nation’s drug wars sank to new depths Wednesday as the Mexican navy announced it had seized a submarine that was transporting cocaine off the southern coast.
The navy intercepted the 33-foot vessel about 125 miles south of Puerto de Salina Cruz in Oaxaca state.
Jose Luis Vergara, a navy spokesman, said in a radio interview that special forces waited until the vessel surfaced before rappelling from helicopters and overpowering the four-man crew.
Vergara called the submarine bust unprecedented for the navy.
“There were a lot of packages,” he said. “It appears to be cocaine.”
The navy provided no information on the identities or nationalities of the suspects.
Colombian authorities have captured more than a dozen such vessels over the last couple of years.
Law enforcement experts say the homemade subs are becoming ever more sophisticated.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s drug wars claimed another high-ranking law enforcement official.
Salomon Diaz, a Sinaloa state police commander, was shot dead by suspected drug gang hit men in the troubled western state, where more than 300 people have died in drug-related violence this year.
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