Submarine With Two Bodies And $87 Million Worth Of Cocaine Discovered Off Colombian Coast

Published March 15, 2023

The Colombian Navy intercepted a submarine that had roughly 5,800 pounds of cocaine onboard, preventing its distribution.

Interception Of Submarine

Armada de Colombia/TwitterSo called “narco subs” are commonly used by drug traffickers.

While patrolling a slice of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Colombia, Colombian naval officers intercepted a submarine drifting in the waves. Onboard, they came across a gruesome discovery — two dead men, two men clinging to life, and nearly three tons of cocaine.

“The Colombian Navy, in the development of maritime control and security operations in the Colombian Pacific, intercepted a semi-submersible approximately 15 meters long, in which 2,643 kilograms [5,826 pounds] of cocaine hydrochloride were transported and would have Central America as its distribution destination,” the Colombian Navy said in a statement.

Inside the submarine, which had taken on a great deal of water, naval officers found two dead men. The Navy also saved the lives of the two survivors onboard, both of whom needed urgent medical attention, possibly due to a malfunction aboard their vessel.

“These people’s poor health state is presumably due to the inhalation of toxic fumes caused by fuel problems inside the boat,” Captain Cristian Andres Guzman Echeverry explained, according to CBS News.

Navy Sailors Aboard The Submarine

Armada de Colombia/TwitterThe Colombian Navy saved the lives of two men onboard the ship who appeared to have inhaled toxic fumes.

The cocaine, the two dead men, and the two survivors were transported to the coastal Tumaco-Nariño municipality. There, the Technical Investigation Corps of the Attorney General’s Office determined that the drugs onboard were, in fact, cocaine, according to the Colombian Navy.

But though the amount of cocaine aboard the submarine was immense — equivalent to more than six million doses of the drug — it’s hardly the largest drug seizure in recent memory.

Cocaine Found On Submarine

Armada de Colombia/TwitterBricks of cocaine, worth $87 million, which the Colombian Navy recovered from the narco sub.

As CBS reports, the Colombian Navy seized another “narco sub” last year that had four tons of cocaine onboard worth about $150 million. In 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a submarine with 12,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $165 million. Submarines like these are capable of carrying up to six tons of cocaine and are often outfitted with special technology to help them evade detection.

Fox News reports that narco subs were first conceptualized by Jose Samir Renteria-Cuero, a Colombian man currently serving 27 years in prison after pleading guilty of drug trafficking. A mechanic by trade, Renteria-Cuero developed submarines for drug trafficking and then “recruited mariners to participate in maritime cocaine smuggling operations.”

Testing The Drugs

Colombian NavyColombian officials testing the drugs to determine if it was cocaine.

Illicit submarines in Colombia are not only used for drug smuggling, however. On the same day that the Colombian Navy came across the narco sub with $87 million worth of cocaine, the Independent reports that Colombian officials also seized three other semi-subs.

These vessels are believed to belong to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a guerilla group that tried for decades to overthrow the government and establish a communist state. It was active between 1964 and 2017, but splinter groups like Segunda Marquetalia continue to exist. Segunda Marquetalia is designated a terrorist group by the United States.

Militant groups like these are militant rely on drug trafficking, kidnappings, and other criminal schemes to fund their operations. But the Colombian Navy is determined to contain their activities as much as possible.

In their statement, they said: “The Colombia Navy will continue to use all its capabilities to stop the scourge of narcotrafficking.”


After reading about the submarine discovered off the coast of Colombia with $87 million worth of cocaine onboard, see how Spanish authorities intercepted a trans-Atlantic narco sub with $100 million worth of cocaine onboard. Or, see how wild boars in Italy ate and destroyed $22 million worth of cocaine that someone had hidden in the forest.

author
Kaleena Fraga
author
A senior staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2021 and co-host of the History Uncovered Podcast, Kaleena Fraga graduated with a dual degree in American History and French Language and Literature from Oberlin College. She previously ran the presidential history blog History First, and has had work published in The Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, and elsewhere. She has published more than 1,200 pieces on topics including history and archaeology. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.
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Jaclyn Anglis
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
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Fraga, Kaleena. "Submarine With Two Bodies And $87 Million Worth Of Cocaine Discovered Off Colombian Coast." AllThatsInteresting.com, March 15, 2023, https://allthatsinteresting.com/colombian-cocaine-submarine. Accessed July 25, 2025.