Ecuador busts first ever fully functional drug sub

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Ecuador busts first ever fully functional drug sub

2 hours, 25 minutes ago

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean authorities have discovered a 30-meter (98

foot)-long submarine being built near the country's Pacific Coast designed to

carry drugs toward the United States.

For years, U.S. and South American law enforcement officials have battled

semi-submersible craft that travel just below the surface to avoid detection and

take cocaine to Central America for trans-shipment to the United States.

The captured craft is the first designed to travel completely under water and

was specially built for smuggling drugs, authorities said.

One person was arrested when Ecuadorean police, assisted by U.S. anti-drug

intelligence, captured the diesel electric-powered submarine. Outfitted with a

periscope and air conditioning, it was being readied for its maiden voyage.

" Its nautical range, payload capacity and quantum leap in stealth has raised the

stakes for counter-drug forces and the national security community alike, " said

Jay Bergman, Andean director for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Andean region is the world's biggest producer of cocaine and the United

States represents the largest market.

(Reporting by Cristina Munoz)