Par Le Figaro with AFP
Published
2 hours ago,
Update 57 minutes ago
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The four occupants, all Colombians, were rescued on Sunday by customs officers just after deliberately sinking their boat, south of the Spanish coast.
Spotted by Spanish customs officers, a group of four drug traffickers aboard a submarine-like vessel opened the ship’s floodgates to flood it and sink its cargo to the bottom of the sea, police said Tuesday. The four occupants, all Colombians, were rescued Sunday by customs officers just after deliberately sinking their vessel 280 nautical miles (about 500 km) off the southern Spanish coast, a joint statement from Spanish customs and police said.
Customs officers patrolling the sea spotted this 20-meter semi-submersible, nicknamed «narco-sous-marin»a type of boat increasingly used by traffickers who are doubling their creativity to find new ways to transport drugs discreetly. When the customs boat approached the boat, the crew “opened the valves at the bottom of the submarine, before returning to the surface of the device to reach safety”. “The semi-submersible was flooded within minutes, before sinking with its cargo to the bottom of the sea. The four Colombian crew members were rescued and then arrested”details the press release.
Spain is one of the main entry points for drugs into Europe, due to its close ties with Latin America and its proximity to Morocco.
