First unmanned narco-sub with Starlink captured in Colombia

The Colombian navy on Wednesday announced the seizure of its first unmanned narco-submarine, discovered off the country’s Caribbean coast and equipped with a Starlink antenna.

Although the vessel was not carrying any drugs, both the Colombian navy and Western security sources in the region told AFP they believe it was a test run conducted by a cocaine trafficking cartel.

A naval spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that the submarine “was being tested and was empty.”

Asked if it was operated by Starlink, the spokeswoman confirmed that the vessel "had that technology" but said the navy "was still studying how exactly it operated."

The discovery announced by Navy commander Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo at a press conference is one of the first reported finds in South American waters of a drone narco submarine.

It comes as cartels step up their use of hard-to-detect submarines, usually with a crew aboard, to smuggle cocaine across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Manned semi-submersibles have been used for decades to ferry cocaine north from Colombia's Pacific coast to Central America or Mexico.

But in recent years, they have been sailing much further afield.

In November last year, five tonnes of Colombian cocaine were found on a semi-submersible seized en route to Australia.