Cocaine is being smuggled into Europe by submarines viral on social media
I'm about to board the narco submarine that smuggled cocaine from South America to Europe.
The 20-meter-long fiberglass submarine is completely indigenous.
After climbing aboard the submarine, I lifted its lid and went inside where three men managed to reach Europe after a perilous 27-day journey under stormy waves.
It is suffocating in this narrow space with sunlight coming through the walls. Inside there's a steering wheel, a few basic dials, and a key still in the ignition.
The journey would be extremely hot and noisy as the submarine was kept with around 20,000 liters of oil to keep its engines running.
Two Ecuadorian cousins and a former Spanish boxer sailed from Brazil through the Amazon River on this submarine trip. They had some energy bars and limited food, but shoppers were there for refreshments.
That was all they had. Yes, plus three tons of cocaine worth a hundred and fifty million dollars.
But it was not a very enjoyable tip that did not end well. In 2019, he was traced down by law imposition agencies including the UK's State Crime Agency.
This historic submarine, cast-off in universal drug trafficking, is now embellished as a trophy at Spain's police academy.
However, this submarine is not the only one of its kind, but a symbol of a secretly booming business.
One more submarine was found off the coast of Spain last month.
Antonio MartÃnez is the chief commissioner of the narco brigade in the Spanish police. He says that for 20 years smugglers have been using submarines to reach Africa and Europe, but these are the first two submarines that have been caught.
"They are very difficult to catch," he admits.
Hundreds of such homemade submarines are trusted to have been shipped to Europe, the country's large cocaine market after the US.
It is also said that in the Atlantic Ocean, near the Canary Islands, there is a vast graveyard of cocaine submarines that were intentionally sunk after successfully dispatching the goods.
Every underground mission is a major success for the mechanics aboard the submarine, but in Spain, the police commemorate their victory in the worldwide drug-trafficking war.
The Chief Commissioner speaks that this is a very main operation. For the first time in Europe, we caught so much cocaine paste.
In this operation, it is not only the cocaine that is seized, but something else is also important. The chief commissioner says the operation also revealed links between Colombian and Mexican criminals to Spanish gangs.
The Spanish police also showed the seized equipment to local journalists, where the smell of cocoa paste permeated the air.
Dozens of brown parcels lay on a table. Each one was the size of a brick with Superman's logo on it. Perhaps this sign was chosen by the smugglers to give them a sense of invulnerability.
An officer bowed down and said that each parcel fetches 27,000 to 32,000 euros. When it is put on sale, the price is magnified.
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This payback is further made up of the real deal.
The laboratory seized in the Galicia place had the volume to produce 200 kilos of cocaine per day.
Along with the submarine, this laboratory exposes a confidential drug world that is enlarged rapidly.
According to the United Nations Drug Agency, cocaine production tripled between 2020 and 2021, a new record.
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