Spanish Police Seize Massive Homemade Drug-Smuggling Submarine

Police in Spain have released footage of a huge homemade submarine that was capable of transporting up to two tonnes of drugs after finding it during an operation to crack down on illegal substances. 

The blue vessel had been constructed out of fibreglass and plywood, and contained a steering wheel and two inboard 200-horsepower engines as well as an abundance of storage space that could be used to transport drugs.

Measuring nine metres (29.5 feet) in length, the submarine had three portholes on one side and was discovered last month in an industrial warehouse in the southern city of Málaga.

See footage of the submarine below:

In a post on Twitter, the Spanish National Police said that the ‘semi-submersible’ vessel was the first of its kind in Spain, and that it was being prepared for drugs trafficking but had not yet been used by those involved in the operation.

The discovery was made as part of a wider operation against drugs crime, which involves five other nations and the EU’s crime agency Europol.

Police say 52 people were detained during raids across Spain, which also resulted in the dismantling of a drugs lab and the discovery of a big haul of cocaine and hashish, which was seized by officers.

Speaking to reporters about the discovery of the submarine, per The Guardian, Rafael Pérez, the head of the Spanish police, said: ‘We think it was going to go to sea to meet a mother ship to take on board drugs.’

Pérez said the vessel was likely going to be used to drop off cocaine before returning to Spain.

He continued: ‘It is like an iceberg. In practice, nearly all of it goes underwater apart from the top, which is the only part that would be seen from another ship or a helicopter.’

Though the submarine was the first apparently made in Spain, it is not the first to be found in the country. In 2019, a vessel loaded with more than 2,000kg (4,409lb) of cocaine was seized in north-western Spain after it ran aground, the BBC reports.

That particular drug-smuggling submarine was believed to have come from Colombia. Two people were detained in relation to the discovery, and police launched an investigation to establish how it sailed all the way with the drugs.

Similar vessels have reportedly been discovered in the past in the Pacific and Atlantic, especially off Central and South America. Though much of the submarine can go underwater, the homemade constructions are rarely able to submerge fully.

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