US EditionColombia Seizes Drone Narco-Submarine with Starlink Tech
- On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, the Colombian navy revealed it had intercepted an unmanned drug-smuggling submarine fitted with a Starlink satellite antenna near the Caribbean coast.
- This event follows a pattern of traffickers using advanced autonomous vessels, with Mexican cartels developing unmanned submarines since 2017 and 2024 seeing near-record interceptions in the Atlantic and Pacific.
- The vessel, owned by the Gulf Clan and capable of transporting 1.5 tons of cocaine, was empty and believed to be a trial run, as confirmed by naval spokespeople and Western sources.
- A video released depicted a small grey semi-submersible equipped with a satellite antenna, and a spokeswoman confirmed the vessel utilized Starlink technology, adding that the navy is continuing to investigate the specifics of its operation.
- The seizure underscores traffickers' move to advanced unmanned vessels that are difficult to spot and reflects their ongoing efforts to outmaneuver law enforcement amid Colombia’s record-high cocaine production.
22 Articles
22 Articles
By Mauricio Torres, CNN en Español Colombian authorities seized an autonomous semi-submersible vessel transporting drugs, the first discovery of its kind in the South American country and a sign of a trend among drug trafficking organizations to use autonomous vehicles to carry out their activities, Colombian Navy Commander Admiral Juan Ricardo Roz Obregón reported Wednesday. The seizure took place during the first half of the year and is part o…
The vessel was equipped with a Starlink antenna, capable of transporting 1.5 tons of cocaine - It belonged to the Clan del Golfo, the country's largest drug cartel.
The authorities did not find any drugs on board the semi-submersible remote-controlled, capable of transporting 1.5 tons of cocaine.
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