back to article First true submarine captured from American drug smugglers

Authorities in Ecuador say they have captured the first true submarine designed and built to smuggle drugs. "Semi-submersible" vessels have long been built for the narcotics trade, but it appears that the drug runners have now upped their game to make vessels able to travel completely underwater. "It is the first fully …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As the man from the DEA says:

    "It is the first fully functional, completely submersible submarine for transoceanic voyages that we have ever found,"

    Which must mean it's better than anything BAE have produced for a long time.

    But be prepared for BAE lobbying that they need to build more multi-billion unarmed combat ships to protect the UK from South American drug smugglers.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      BAE and submarines

      "Better than anything BAE have produced for a long time".

      Well I know very little about submarines - at least compared to some of the frighteningly well-informed commenters on this article - but there was a cracking BBC documentary shown just over a week ago called "How to Build a Nuclear Submarine". This programme showed BAE doing just that, and very interesting it was too.

      It's still on iPlayer and well worth a look IMHO.

  2. Graham Marsden
    FAIL

    What a waste of money...

    ... on both sides.

    This whole fiasco could be ended if politicians had the guts to put their hands up and say "ok, we admit it, we cannot ever win this phony war on drugs, so we'll put the barons and the dealers out of business by decriminalising the product and getting the pharmaceutical companies to turn it out in clean, uncontaminated retail quantities (which they could do easily since they already produce it for the hospital market, eg what do you think diamorphine pain killer is?) and save a lot of suffering all around.

    1. ChrisB 2
      Happy

      Indeed

      The war on drugs is lost and continuing it is a complete waste of time and effort.

      Much better to de-criminalise and put the soft stuff into off-licences and the hard stuff into pharmacies for non-prescription purchase. Pharma stocks, tax revenues and those who wish to all get high.

      Simples.

  3. Andus McCoatover
    Grenade

    To kill the trade...

    Why don't they simply make the drugs legal? The fuc*kwitts who are daft enough to take 'em will simply shuffle off this mortal coil quickly, and the rest of us can rest easy.

    Darwin Effect.

    "Drug barons" would be severely shafted, but so would police overtime. OK...ok, I think I'm getting the picture.

    1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: To kill the trade...

      Wow, everything would be so much simpler if you were in charge.

      1. Stevie
        Thumb Up

        Hah!

        'Cos that worked so well in the UK with respect to re-circulatory respiration of heavy petroleum vapours emitted by adhesives by means of improvised paper rebreathers.

        How I ached to see the youth of Harlow destroying themselves with this illegal scourge, which I understand was also a problem in other cities. But enlightened minds have prevailed and now this so-called "glue" can be bought anywhere at modest prices and the youth of Britain is once again free of the pernicious need to huff the stuff.

      2. Bill Neal
        Thumb Up

        Yeah, and...

        it seems to work for Amsterdam. Actually most of the world believes treatment is more effective than punishment.

      3. Robert Hill
        Flame

        He IS right though....

        Despite his rather plebeian writing style, his point is rather valid - it's time to consider treating drugs as a medical addition and social problem, and remove the criminal element. Al Capone did NOT want Prohibition to end, neither did the other Mafia bosses, and you can be sure the one thing the drug lords fear is an end to criminalisation. Once Prohibition ended, the Mafia was forced to turn to gambling, prostitution, protection, and eventually drugs distribution to try and make up for the hole in their income that legal liquor created.

        The drugs lords have no such easy ability to form non-drug criminal enterprises, as most of their money and power is abroad. Not to say they won't try, but none of those enterprises have the ease of money as drugs do today.

        As another poster has posited, we ARE creating an independent narco-state, complete with it's own army, navy, and huge numbers of military-grade weapons. That is a far, far worse result for our civilization than any uptick in drugs use is likely to be under decriminalisation.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So it's only taken the drug lords 21 years to see Licence to Kill

    I suggest the DEA take a close look at any nearby televangelist operations which may not be all they seem...

  5. Martin Usher
    Grenade

    New use for redundant Trident subs...

    ...there's customers down there for them willing to pay cash....

  6. Stevie

    Bah!

    You sold a non-nuclear submarine to a Mr P.N. Guin, and you didn't even get a *phone number*?

  7. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Happy

    Use for Astute class after all.

    Who'd have thought it.

  8. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    @Ahem

    It's also funny how, for the last 60years, the US has managed to prevent any incursions by the worlds largest airforce, with some of the best combat experienced pilots flying some of the most advanced jets in the world, sneaking in at low level over millions of sq-km of uninhabited north pole.

    Yet they can't seem to prevent a couple of old DC3s loaded with horticulture flying in a straight line between Columbia and Miami ?

  9. Peter Simpson 1
    Pirate

    Cocaine warhead torpedos

    Coming soon to a beach near you.

    //"I would like to have seen Montana."

    1. Captain TickTock
      Pirate

      "I would like to have seen Montana."

      He did, a few years later at the beginning of Jurassic park

      :-)

  10. Jesse Dorland
    Linux

    At least he knows his scoor :)

    At least he doesn't have to worry about studying for any more Navy exams. He already flunked the final.

  11. Mike 135
    Black Helicopters

    All i have in the world

    is my balls and my word and I don't break them for no one. It seems he also now has a shiny new submarine, a monopoly worth billions and half a continents politcal system in his pocket too. Not bad for someone that started off with only a word and some stones.

    Next they will be transporting in stealth bombers. 10tonnes per sub = 200million at 20k a kilo. Wikipedia says they used to be sold at $737million dollars a pop (1997 dollars) so Pablo only needs 4 runs with his sub before arming himself with a B2. Still, I'd rather a world cup trophy made of charlie fall on my house than a 500lb super bomb.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    A drug related submarine...

    Why isn't it yellow?

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