A drug submarine bound for Australia is seized in a large-scale international operation in which 1,400 tons of drugs were intercepted

() – Six narco-submarines full of cocaine were captured in an international anti-drug operation led by Colombia, as reported this Wednesday by the authorities of this Latin American country, within the framework of a huge global operation.

In the mission, in which 62 countries participated, more than 1,400 metric tons of drugs, mostly marijuana, were seized between October 1 and November 14, according to Vice Admiral Orlando Enrique Grisales, chief of the General Staff of Naval Operations of the Colombian Navy.

Among the loot were 225 metric tons of cocaine, 5 of which were aboard a semi-submersible vessel covering a maritime trafficking route from Colombia to Australia, he said.

The vessel, intercepted in Pacific waters with enough fuel to reach Australia, is the third “narco-submarine” of this type intercepted on the route, Grisales told reporters.

“The first was discovered in Colombian waters and, thanks to the maps it carried, we identified the route. That’s when we started working with the Australian authorities,” he added.

Contacted by , the Australian Police declined to comment on the discovery.

Australian police have warned in recent years that international drug cartels are increasingly targeting the country, where an increase in cocaine consumption combined with some of the highest street prices in the world has fueled a lucrative illicit market.

This is not the first time that authorities have seized narco-submarines. Traffickers began using these vessels in the late 1990s, when Colombian cartels were looking for a way to evade U.S. police patrols in the Caribbean Sea to transport their illegal shipments to the United States.

The seizure of 225 tons of cocaine is a huge haul. In a report this year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that in 2022 global cocaine production will reach 2,700 tons, a record figure.