Today in Focus The rise of the cocaine submarine
Feb 17, 2026
Tom Phillips, Latin America correspondent with frontline experience of narco‑sub seizures; Sam Jones, Madrid correspondent tracking trafficking routes. They map how semi‑submersibles are built and crewed. They trace sightings and seizures in Europe, describe cramped conditions aboard, and explain why these vessels evade detection and what that reveals about global drug networks.
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Record Seizure Off Portugal
- Portuguese police intercepted a narco sub carrying almost nine tonnes of cocaine, worth around €600m.
- The vessel sank partly, taking about 35 bales to the Azores seabed while authorities recovered roughly 300 bales.
First Fully Laden Narco Sub In Europe
- In 2019 Spanish police found a 21.5m fibreglass narco sub carrying three tonnes of cocaine off Galicia.
- The crew scuttled the vessel when cornered and it revealed a new level of European trafficking.
Reporter’s Close-Up: Inside A Narco Sub
- Tom Phillips squeezed into a seized semi-submersible and found it claustrophobic, hot and dangerous.
- He compared it to a floating coffin with crude wooden bunks and toxic fumes from the engine.