Once dismissed as drug war folklore, narco-submarines are now making real waves. When Spain seized one off Galicia in 2019 packed with 3,000 kg (over 6,600 pounds) of cocaine, it confirmed what many had long suspected: smugglers were going underwater.
By 2024, record numbers of these stealthy, self-made subs were being caught in both the Atlantic and Pacific, reaching further than previously thought. Long used to ferry cocaine from Colombia to Central America, these narco-subs are now faster, smarter, and a growing force in the global drug trade.
Click through the following gallery to step inside the covert underwater network fueling a multibillion-dollar empire.