The Plan
Ever had to smuggle 6,600 pounds of cocaine across the sea? Me neither. A group of Ecuadorian Nationals, however, happened to stumble upon this task. So, like any other group of witty drug smugglers, they loaded their 3 tons of cocaine onto a submarine and headed for Spain! The ship, a 72 foot long semi-submersible vessel, survived 20 long days at sea, before the voyage was put to a halt due to weather conditions.
Futile Efforts
The crew’s initial plan was to transfer the payload to a second vessel, where the drugs would be moved into Spain through the coast. This plan, however, was thwarted by storm conditions. The crew attempted to sink the ship by filling it with water before making a beeline for the coast. This effort was short lived though, as two out of the three members of the crew were spotted by Spanish national police, and detained shortly after. The whereabouts of the third member are unknown to the Spanish Civil Guard.
The Ship
The vessel that the crew used to smuggle the goods is known as an SPSS, or self-propelled semi-submersible. This vessel is not the first SPSS to be used for drug smuggling, but it is certainly one of the largest ones to have been seized by national authority. Despite the police’s seizure of the ship, it would not be until later the next day that it was brought into mainland. Due to the same weather conditions that stopped the smugglers from finishing their operation, the police were unable to refloat the sunken ship until nearly a day later.
The Big Question
Could you have done it better?
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