Drug Subs: Tune into the NatGeo special this Sunday

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Posted by: Christopher Lagan

Guardians from CGC Jarvis detain personnel aboard a self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) captured in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Central America, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. (U.S. Coast Guard photo) Click the image to read more about the bust.

Guardians from CGC Jarvis detain personnel aboard a self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) captured in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Central America, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. (U.S. Coast Guard photo) Click the image to read more about the bust.

This Sunday the National Geographic Channel will air Inside Cocaine Submarines. The NatGeo special will focus on the latest technologies used by both smugglers and law enforcement in the war on drugs.

A U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) team exits the experimental ship Stiletto aboard a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) in preparation for a training exercise near the South Florida coast. (Photo by Jose Ruiz, U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs) Click the image to view a clip from National Geographic's Inside Cocaine Submarines featuring the Stiletto and it's crew.

A U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) team exits the experimental ship Stiletto aboard a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) in preparation for a training exercise near the South Florida coast. (Photo by Jose Ruiz, U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs) Click the image to view a clip from National Geographic's Inside Cocaine Submarines featuring the Stiletto and it's crew.

The crew of a semi-submersible drug trafficking vessel prepares to abandon their boat before being intercepted and detained by the Coast Guard approximately 150 miles northwest of the Colombian-Ecuador border Jan.8, 2009. (U.S. Navy photo)

The crew of a semi-submersible drug trafficking vessel prepares to abandon their boat before being intercepted and detained by the Coast Guard approximately 150 miles northwest of the Colombian-Ecuador border Jan.8, 2009. (U.S. Navy photo)

Despite the best efforts of narcoterrorists, Guardians have been regularly seizing self-propelled semi-submersibles (SPSS) for the past several years.

Interdictions by Coast Guard units like the CGC Jarvis (see the image at the top of the post) or the CGC Midgett (click here to see video of an SPSS interdiction by the crew of the CGC Midgett) are just some of the successes in stopping SPSS runs of illegal narcotics to America’s shores. Guardians working alongside Army and Navy personnel as part of  Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South are using cutting edge technology in the form of the Pentagon’s experimental high-speed boat Stiletto on the front lines to stop drug subs. The Stiletto is the focus of the above mentioned video clip from Inside Cocaine Submarines.

In 2009, the Coast Guard seized 11 of the subs (along with their crews) and interdicted more than 64 metric tons of cocaine in the process.

Tune in to the National Geographic Channel at 10pm (east and west coast times) on Sunday to watch Inside Cocaine Submarines.

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  • http://www.uscg.mil/publicaffairs/mopic Donnie Brzuska

    This is great information! Thanks!

  • Sean Carroll

    I will definitely watch this show. Thanks for posting this.

  • Alex Zecha

    64 million tons of cocaine on 11 subs?
    That must be a typo.

  • clagan

    Alex, you’re absolutely correct.

    The story should have (and now does thanks to your keen eye) read “In 2009, the Coast Guard seized 11 of the subs (along with their crews) and interdicted more than 64 METRIC tons of cocaine in the process.”

    Christopher Lagan
    Coast Guard Public Affairs

  • Duncan

    That Stiletto is an amazing peice of kit. Watched the program it was really interesting

  • Justin Mick

    Who would have thought drug trafficing would have went to extreme levels as to submarine drugs to America! I thought that the latest $600 million dollar drug bust was going to place a hault to allot of drugs off the streets for awhile. However now they are submarining drugs into the UNITED STATES how can anyone keep watch over all that!You’ve captured 11 submarines, there’s probably hundreds if not thousands with all this crap.. flooding streets around the US!There is a huge problem with addiction in America and as soon as drugs vanish addiction will follow. However while we are broadcasting on the news that a $600 million cocaine bust was made on a boat theres probably a submarine right under it with another load!