Colombia Captures First Drug Submarine with Starlink Tech

On Wednesday, the Colombian Navy reported its first capture of an unmanned narco-submarine outfitted with a Starlink antenna along the Caribbean coast.

The submarine was not transporting any drugs, but officials from the Colombian Navy and Western security agencies in the area informed AFP that they suspect it was a test run conducted by a cocaine trafficking cartel.

“It was being tested and contained no cargo,” a Navy spokesperson stated when speaking to AFP.

When asked if the vessel operated using Starlink technology, the spokesperson acknowledged that the craft “was equipped with that technology,” but noted that the navy was still evaluating its operational capacities.

The discovery, revealed by Navy commander Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo during a press conference, marks one of the first known instances of a drone-like narco submarine found in South American waters.

This incident highlights the escalating tendency of cartels to utilize sophisticated submarines that are harder to detect, typically crewed, to smuggle cocaine across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

For decades, crewed semi-submersibles have been employed to transport cocaine from Colombia’s Pacific coast to destinations in Central America or Mexico.

However, in recent years, their operational range has significantly expanded.

As of November last year, authorities seized a semi-submersible carrying five tons of Colombian cocaine while en route to Australia.