What’s another way to transport at least $272 million of cocaine? Narco-submarine
This wasn’t The Hunt for Red October, but perhaps The Hunt for Snow in September.
A 40-foot self-propelled semi-submersible — also called a narco-submarine — was spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Eastern Pacific in time to interrupt the delivery of 12,000 pounds of cocaine, the agency announced Tuesday.
A maritime patrol aircraft spotted the craft, usually a difficult task, and the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant was pointed in the vessel’s direction. Valiant crew members, the Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team and the Colombian Navy hopped aboard to arrest the crew of four. But they could offload only 1,100 pounds of cocaine.
“The remaining cocaine on the semi-submersible could not be safely extracted due to stability concerns of the vessel,” the Coast Guard said in a release.
The Coast Guard put the value of the cocaine at $165 million, but that doesn’t match any known continental United States street prices.
A load of 12,000 pounds of cocaine being worth only $165 million works out to $30.25 per gram. The only place in the United States you’ll find actual cocaine for that price is Puerto Rico, where it goes for around $28 per gram according to a 2018 email to the Miami Herald from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Street prices in Miami, the cheapest big city U.S. cocaine market, were put from $50 to $80 per gram by a DEA agent in this 2017 South Florida Sun-Sentinel story. At those prices, 12,000 pounds (5,454.5 kilos of cocaine) would be worth $272,720,000 to $436,360,000.
This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 5:46 PM.
