cocaine submarine
A mini-submarine carrying more than $200 million worth of cocaine was intercepted by authorities in Texas
A mini-submarine carrying $200 million worth of cocaine was intercepted by authorities in the 'Eastern Pacific Ocean'.

Officials said they intercepted the semi-submersible vessel attempting to bring 12,800 pounds or 5.5 tons of cocaine into the US.

The cocaine was on a mini-sub called a narco-submarine, vessels made of fiberglass that are extremely hard to detect using radar and are commonly used by drug traffickers.

Because much of its structure is made of fiberglass and it travels mainly below the water surface, it is virtually impossible to detect via sonar or radar.


These vessels can carry a crew of at least four and dive down at least 30 feet below the surface.

A vessel's design depends on how far they can travel. A mini-sub with two diesel engines, and sophisticated navigational equipment could travel long distances up to 2,000 miles at a speed of up to 11 miles per hour, according to IndraStra.

A team of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents based in Corpus Christi, Texas, detected the self-propelled vessel earlier this month while conducting counter narcotics operations using a P-3 Long Range Tracker, according to their website.

In the video, the crew operating the vessel attempted to flee as officials approached them.

Agents arrested four people and attempted to seize the cocaine.

But moments later, the sub, which officials said originated in the 'Eastern Pacific Ocean', became unstable and it and the cocaine sank to the ocean floor.

The task force coordinated an interdiction of the semi-submersible with a U.S. Coast Guard vessel in the area while an Air and Marines Operations crew maintained constant visual surveillance.

The semi-submersible became unstable and sank.

'This type of cooperation and teamwork produces these kinds of results where suspects are arrested and narcotics prevented from reaching U.S. shores,' said Director John Wassong at the National Air Security Operations Center - Corpus Christi.

'Our crews will continue to take every opportunity to disrupt this type of transnational criminal activity.'

It's unclear where the mini submarine came from or how it came to be in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

In the 2015 fiscal year, US Customs and Border Protection aircrews contributed to 198 seizure, disruption, or interdiction events in the transit zone, resulting in the interdiction of 213,000 pounds of cocaine in the 42-million-square-mile area they patrol.

The Coast Guard caught a similar vessel carrying 12,000 pounds of cocaine off the coast of Central America in August and have previously intercepted almost 43,000 pounds at once, according to ABC News.

The latest incident comes a few days after a Jet Blue flight attendant abandoned 70 pounds of cocaine at airport security when she was selected for a random check in the known crewmember line.