Drug Dealers Use Submarine

A "homemade" submarine was captured off the coast of Costa Rica carrying a crew of four and about three tons of cocaine. The submarine, made of wood and fiberglass, was about 50 feet long.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Authorities have captured a homemade submarine carrying 3 tons of cocaine off Costa Rica's Pacific coast.

The 49-foot craft was found Friday, 330 miles off the coast near the national park of Isla del Coco, Security Minister Fernando Berrocal said. Four people were arrested.

He said it was the first time such a vessel was seized near the coast.

The U.S. Coast Guard, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Colombian officials aided Costa Rican authorities in the operation, Berrocal said in the statement released Sunday.

The Yahoo AP story adds these details:

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Tipped off by three plastic pipes mysteriously skimming the ocean's surface, authorities seized a homemade submarine packed with 3 tons of cocaine off Costa Rica's Pacific coast.

Four men traveled inside the 50-foot wood and fiberglass craft, breathing through the pipes. The craft sailed along at about 7 mph, just six feet beneath the surface, Security Minister Fernando Berrocal said Sunday.

The submarine was spotted Friday 103 miles off the coast near Cabo Blanco National Park on the Nicoya peninsula.

There's a little confusion between the two stories as to where this thing was exactly. I'll be trying to find pictures.

UPDATE: From comments, Just Barking Mad has the picture – and a comparison.