A 49-foot-long narco submarine containing £72million of cocaine and two dead bodies has been discovered off Colombia.
The
Colombian Navy seized the 'ghost ship' which had more than 2.6 tons of
cocaine on it in the Pacific Ocean. Authorities also found two survivors
who were given life-saving medical attention at a nearby ship.
Local authorities believe that the two who died were killed by toxic gas inhalation.
Spanish media are reporting that the submarine was one of three seized by Colombian officials - with all alleged to have belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The FARC was a Marxist-Lennist guerrilla group which operated in Colombia between 1964 and 2017 and attempted to overthrow the country's government and establish a communist state.
The group were involved drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and other criminal activities to finance its decades-long insurgency.
It's understood that each narco submarine could carry up to six tons of the Class A substance.
Reports also claim that Colombian troops discovered and destroyed a cocaine processing centre in a rural area near the northern city of Santa Marta. It's believed they seized a further two tons of cocaine here.
Colombia's Ministry of National Defence said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: 'The Colombian Military Forces, in the course of maritime control and security operations in the Colombian Pacific, intercepted a semi-submersible approximately 15 metres long, in which 2,643 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride were being transported, destined for distribution in Central America.
'
Once the illegal device was located, military personnel found two individuals in poor health conditions on the outside of the vessel. Apparently, there was an accident inside the semi-submersible due to the generation of toxic gases from the fuel.
'The two men were treated and
transported to a nearby vessel, where they were given the necessary
medical attention to safeguard their lives.
