Officers recently seized nearly 6.5 tons of cocaine from a semi-submersible vessel, or “narco sub,” that was intercepted off the Azores on its way to the Iberian peninsula, according to Portugal’s judicial police.
The bust, known as Operation Nautilus, accounts for nearly a quarter of the record 23 tons seized in Portugal in 2024, which is widely regarded as one of the first points of entry for the drug into Europe. Drug traffickers were caught using semi-submersible vessels to smuggle cocaine while attempting to avoid detection.
The vessel was intercepted “in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, around 500 nautical miles” south of Portugal’s Azores archipelago, according to a judicial police statement.
The vessel, which was used by an international crime ring, carried five crew members, according to the statement. Police released video of the operation, which showed the vessel loaded with orange packages as well as four suspects whose faces were blurred out.
According to the police, in addition to the Portuguese navy and air force, international partners such as the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the British National Crime Agency, and the Spanish Guardia Civil helped with the bust.
Portuguese police stated that the operation occurred recently, but did not specify the date.
Many “narco subs” cannot dive as deeply as a true submarine, but some can.
The majority of cocaine smuggled into Portugal arrives by sea from Latin America.
Though most commonly seen off the coast of Colombia, “narcosubs” have been spotted all over the world in recent months.
In January, a “narco sub” broke in two pieces while being towed by a fishing boat to a port in northwest Spain. In November, the Mexican Navy reported seizing approximately 8,000 pounds of cocaine aboard a “narco sub” about 150 miles off the resort of Acapulco.
In September, the US Coast Guard announced that it had offloaded more than $54 million worth of cocaine, including over 1,200 pounds seized from a “narco sub.”
