Hunt for dead October – Narco subs found with cocaine worth €83m on board

One contained almost $90 million worth of cocaine and a couple of dead sailors.

The discoveries were made on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

In the first incident, the Columbian navy stumbled across the disturbing scene of a 49-foot vessel drifting in the Pacific with two dead narcos on board.

“Apparently, there was an accident inside the semi-submersible due to the generation of toxic gases from the fuel,” said the Columbian Ministry of Defence.

Officials estimated there was more than 2.6 tons of cocaine inside the deep sea sub which was removed and later laid out in blocks for the media.

Columbian officials reckon the navy’s discovery will keep more than 6 million doses off the market.

Two other sailors survived the incident and were found bobbing in the water, who were removed and brought for life saving treatment.

A 2016 report of drug submarines found that most were constructed in remote areas in the jungle. The vessels were designed in such a way to be fully submersible and transport on average 10 tonnes of drugs to illegal markets in Central America.

Colombia’s Ministry of Defense said it was committed to cracking down on all narco vessels.

“The Colombian navy will continue deploying all its capabilities to counter the scourge of drug trafficking structures that commit crimes in the Pacific,” they said.

Following the weekend’s find, Spanish authorities came upon a similar scene off the coast of Galicia.

Another almost 50ft semi-submersible was spotted sinking in Vilagarcia de Arousa, off the coast of Spain's northern Pontevedra province.

Spanish media reported that the authorities struggled opening the hatch to the vessel after they brought it to the surface amidst choppy waters and poor weather conditions.

Salvage efforts included injecting pressurised air into the fibreglass vessel, whose propeller got stuck in the muddy seabed.

In footage taken from a helicopter, boats from the authorities can be seen swarming around the submarine.

In a statement, the Galician local government said: 'The sub-delegate of the government in Pontevedra, Maica Larriba, flew to the area where the submarine was located.

‘This followed the operations conducted in the port by the Spanish Civil Guard and the National Police. Work by the Maritime Safety and Rescue Society is ongoing in the area.'

The bow had been discovered on Monday morning by the crews of fishing boats who had noticed a small oil spill.

The Spanish government's representative in the province of Pontevedra, Jose Minones, told reporters that no drugs were found inside the submarine following a preliminary inspection