The Mexican Navy seized a semi-submersible ship and two ‘go-fast’ boats trafficking cocaine and fuel off the coast of Chiapas this month. The first ‘Go-fast’ boat was seized on the 5th of December. Three people were arrested on the ship and 37 drums of fuel were seized. The second semi-submersible ship was seized on the 6th of December, an additional four people were arrested, and 873 kilograms of cocaine was seized. The second ‘Go Fast’ boat was seized on the 7th of December and was carrying 14 drums of fuel.  
 

The use of semi-submersible ships to carry drugs has been a practice for decades and is often used to traffic cocaine from Colombia to a transit state, such as Mexico, before reaching the final destination of the US. The ships are often called ‘narco-submarines’. The narco-subs tend to be seized primarily off the coast of Colombia, as this is often where they are built, bought and deployed. For instance Colombia authorities seized a ship trafficking a ton of cocaine in September earlier this year. This narco-sub was also headed for Mexico.