‘Narco-Submarine’ Carrying 4 Tons of Cocaine Captured by Mexico's Navy

The Mexican Navy announced connected Thursday that it had seized a semi-submersible vas carrying astir 4 tons of cocaine. The seizure of 179 packages of the cause is the latest effect successful an effort to curb maritime trafficking of illicit substances crossed the Pacific Ocean—an contented besides being addressed by the United States done a bid of deadly attacks successful the Caribbean against vessels suspected of carrying drugs.

Omar García Harfuch, Mexico's caput of security, reported successful a station connected X that the interception of the vessel—known arsenic a “narco-submarine”—took spot successful Mexican waters adjacent Manzanillo, successful the authorities of Colima. Three radical person been arrested implicit suspected ties to the shipment.

The Mexican navy (Semar) said that the cognition progressive an water patrol vessel, 2 fixed-wing aircraft, 2 rotary-wing aircraft, and 2 interceptor boats. It besides received enactment from US Northern Command and the Joint Interagency Task Force, which provided quality to find the people astatine sea.

Harfuch emphasized that this enactment adds to different seizures made during the past week, which person resulted successful the confiscation of astir 10 tons of cocaine. According to the secretary, “this represents a nonstop and multimillion-dollar stroke to the fiscal structures of organized crime, preventing millions of doses from reaching the streets and protecting the information of Mexican families.”

Since astatine slightest past year, Semar has been monitoring a transnational web that uses the routes known arsenic La Gorgona and El Desierto to transport narcotics and different illicit goods from Ecuador and Colombia. The way includes strategical points specified arsenic the Galápagos Islands and Clipperton Island earlier reaching Mexican shores, including Punta Tejupán successful Michoacán. According to an probe published by N+ Focus, the last destination of these shipments is the US market.

Criminal organizations usage speedboats, submarines, and semi-submersibles, often homemade from fiberglass, to evade radar and maritime surveillance systems. Between 2023 and aboriginal 2025, monitoring and enforcement operations conducted by Semar resulted successful the seizure of much than 111 tons of cocaine, 223 amerciable maritime vessels, and the apprehension of 476 suspected traffickers of Ecuadorian, Mexican, Colombian, and Central American nationalities.

The US authorities has pressured Mexico to intensify its combat against cause trafficking. Last year, the trafficking of synthetic drugs similar fentanyl was utilized by the Trump medication arsenic justification for imposing tariffs connected Mexican imports.

Since then, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has announced a tougher strategy against the cartels, which includes accrued surveillance connected maritime routes and borders, arsenic good arsenic the extradition of dozens of those convicted of cause trafficking offenses to the United States.

For his part, US president Donald Trump launched a run of nonstop confrontation against organized crime, adjacent successful planetary waters. According to The New York Times, Trump instructed the Pentagon to usage subject assets against Latin American cartels designated arsenic violent organizations, representing the astir assertive strategy of his medication successful this area.

Trump's decree aimed to found a ineligible ground for conducting some maritime and onshore subject operations successful overseas territory, marking a important displacement successful US information argumentation by assigning to the subject functions traditionally reserved for instrumentality enforcement agencies.

This argumentation led to the archetypal US onslaught connected a vas that, according to the Trump administration, was transporting drugs from Venezuela to the United States. That incidental occurred connected September 2 successful planetary waters of the confederate Caribbean Sea and near 11 radical dead, allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua gang. Since then, dozens of akin attacks person been recorded successful the Caribbean and the Pacific, with an estimated decease toll of astir 145 people.

This communicative primitively appeared successful WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.