The Colombian Navy announced earlier this week that it had seized a makeshift semi-submersible off the Caribbean coast. Drug cartels have already been using this technique for several years now to smuggle drugs into the United States and other countries, but this is the first time that a vessel has been discovered that was plying the illicit route with no one inside. According to France 24, authorities stated that it was equipped with a Starlink User Terminal, enabling the boat to remain connected to the internet even in high seas and be controlled remotely. Nevertheless, the narco-sub was empty during the interdiction, meaning it was likely a test run for future smuggling operations.
This isn’t the first time that authorities have caught a remotely operated low-profile vessel. The first recorded incident happened in November 2024, when Indian police seized a makeshift drone vessel using Starlink near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands — more than 700 miles from the Indian subcontinent. Drug cartels are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to shipping contraband. These boats were initially designed for routes between North and South America, but they’ve recently been spotted sailing across the Atlantic and the Pacific.
