Cocaine seized from drug smuggling submarine

Honduran authorities have been unloading the vessel since its crew tried to scuttle it after its detection on Wednesday.

HONDURAN AUTHORITIES say they have recovered 7.3 tonnes of cocaine from a semi-submersible craft seized off the country’s Caribbean coast.

Presidential guard chief Col Rene Osorio says officials had earlier recovered 2.7 tonnes. They have been unloading the drugs since Wednesday.

The submarine-like fiberglass craft is floating about 15 meters (50 feet) under the surface because the crew tried to sink it.

A US Coast Guard patrol detected the vessel Wednesday off the coast of the sparsely-populated province of Gracias a Dios, near the Nicaraguan border. Five crew members were detained.

So far, authorities in Honduras have seized 13.8 tonnes (12.6 metric tons) of cocaine totaling some $500 million (€347.2 million).

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