U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said Saturday its agents helped seize a submarine in Ecuador built to ship cocaine bound for the United States.
Federal officials said the 100-foot-long, diesel-powered sub, found in a jungle tributary on Ecuador's West Coast, is the first known, fully
operational sub built by drug traffickers, the Houston Chronicle reported.
DEA officials said the sub, complete with periscope, was discovered before it made its first delivery, the newspaper said.
"The submarine's nautical range, payload capacity and quantum leap in stealth have raised the stakes for the counter-drug forces and the national security community alike," DEA Andean Regional Director Jay Bergman said.
Authorities said they believe the sub's range could have extended to the North American coast and that it could have carried tons of illicit drugs.
"There is a sense of urgency for naval engineers and submariners to take a look at this thing and dissect it and take it apart and figure out what its real capabilities were," Bergman said.
"This is the final frontier for the maritime drug traffickers. We remained completely incredulous until the last minute. Good cops never underestimate their enemy or the ingenuity of the adversary, but seeing is believing and that is what this day is."