Colombia seizes first unmanned narco-submarine with Starlink antenna

Summary

Photograph released by the Colombian Navy press office showing an unmanned semi-submersible, known as a Low Profile Vessel, between two Colombian Navy vessels, July 2, 2025. The Colombian navy on Wednesday announced its first seizure of an unmanned narco-submarine equipped with a Starlink antenna off its Caribbean coast. The vessel was not carrying drugs, but the Colombian navy and Western security sources based in the region told AFP they believed it was a trial run of an unmanned vessel by a cocaine trafficking cartel. Manned semi-submersibles built in clandestine jungle shipyards have been used for decades to ferry cocaine north from Colombia, the world's biggest cocaine producer, to Central America or Mexico. But in recent years, they have been sailing much further afield, crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The latest find, announced by Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo at a press conference, is the first reported discovery in South American waters of a drone narco-submarine. The navy said it was owned by the Gulf Clan, Colombia's largest drug trafficking group and had the capacity to transport 1.5 tons of cocaine. A video released by the navy showed a small grey vessel with a satellite antenna on the bow. This is not the first time a Starlink antenna has been used at sea by suspected drug traffickers. In November, Indian police seized a giant consignment of meth worth $4.25 billion in a vessel steered remotely by Starlink near the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands. It was the first known discovery of a narco-submarine operated by Starlink. Read moreCoordinated spate of bombings and gun attacks rock Colombia Going further afield Cocaine production, seizures and use all hit record highs in 2023, the UN drug agency said last month. In Colombia, production has reached record levels, fuelled by surging global demand. Rozo said the use of autonomous subs reflected the traffickers "migration towards more sophisticated unmanned systems" which are hard to detect at sea,...