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Drug-Smuggling Submarine Found in Ecuador

   VOA News 05 July 2010
   Soldiers  stand  on a seized submarine in the jungle region of La Loma
   in Ecuador, 3 Jul 2010

Photo: AP

   Soldiers  stand  on a seized submarine in the jungle region of La Loma
   in  Ecuador.  DEA  officials  said  that  the  diesel electric-powered
   submarine  was  constructed  in  a  remote  jungle and captured near a
   tributary  close  to  the  Ecuador-Colombia  border  and is capable of
   transporting  tons  of  cocaine. Ecuadorean authorities seized the sub
   before it could make its maiden voyage, 3 Jul 2010.

   Ecuadorian  authorities  have  discovered  a  33-meter-long  submarine
   designed to smuggle drugs to the United States.
   Officials  say  police found thevessel at a jungle shipyard in Ecuador
   near  the  Colombian border as it was preparing for its first voyage.Â
   One person was arrested at the site.
   The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration assisted in the discovery.
   DEA  officials  say  the submarine is the first completely submersible
   vessel  they  have  ever  found that is designed for transoceanic drug
   trafficking voyages.  Semi-submersible vessels typically unload drugs
   destined for the United States in Central America and Mexico.
   The  submarine  is  equipped  with  a  cabin  about 2.7 meters high, a
   periscope and air conditioning.
   Ecuador is in the Andean region, the world's largest cocaine-producing
   area.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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