Recent insights from Spanish law enforcement reveal that the declining price of cocaine is compelling drug traffickers to repurpose their custom-made “narco-submarines” instead of scuttling them as they previously did. This shift is attributed to market saturation and a significant drop in wholesale prices, which have fallen to approximately €15,000 (£13,000) per kilogram over the past few years.
Alberto Morales, the head of the central narcotics brigade of the Spanish Policía Nacional, explained that these semi-submersible vessels have been a fixture in the drug trade since the 1980s, primarily used in Colombia and neighboring regions. However, their presence in European waters only began to be documented in 2006, following the discovery of an abandoned submarine in Galicia.
Historically, traffickers would send these vessels on single-use missions to deliver cargo from South America to Europe, often sinking them afterward to avoid detection. The vessels, which can cost around €600,000 (£524,000) to construct, were once seen as a profitable investment due to the high value of the drugs they transported. The drastic reduction in cocaine prices, however, has prompted traffickers to reassess their strategies.
Morales noted, “These semi-submersibles used to head to the area around the Canaries on one-way voyages and they’d then be sunk. But what’s happened lately is that the price of the merchandise is really, really low, so the organisations have, logically, had a rethink.” Now, traffickers are opting to unload their cargo and establish refueling platforms at sea, allowing the submarines to return for multiple trips.
The Spanish authorities have ramped up their efforts, seizing 123 tonnes of cocaine last year, an increase from 118 tonnes in 2023 and 58 tonnes in 2022. In a recent operation, 14 individuals were arrested, and 3.65 tonnes of cocaine were confiscated from a narco-sub in Galicia.
The rise in narco-submarine activity has coincided with a notable decrease in the use of sailboats for drug transport. Morales indicated that current trafficking methods are predominantly reliant on merchant ships and semi-submersibles, which offer year-round operational flexibility.
Despite having recorded 10 narco-subs over the last two decades, Morales suggests that the actual number of functioning submarines may be greater, given Spain’s extensive 8,000-kilometer coastline. He mentioned the elusive nature of the so-called “narco-sub graveyard” located in the eastern Atlantic, as details about it remain scarce.
In addition to the resurgence of narco-subs, Spanish police have observed a significant increase in synthetic drug production. Over the past two years, authorities have dismantled more synthetic drug laboratories than in the previous 18 years combined. This trend has led to the seizure of over five tonnes of MDMA and significant quantities of other synthetic drugs.
The expansion of drug production is not limited to Spain, as criminal organizations are increasingly migrating from the Netherlands to other European countries such as France and Germany, where they find more spacious and discreet locations for their operations.
The evolving landscape of drug trafficking in Europe underscores the continuous challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in curbing these sophisticated and adaptive criminal networks.
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