21.04.2023, 12:31
Zitat:Cocaine-smuggling submarine reveals Europe's drug crisis [...]https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65337215
It's 20 metres (65 ft) long, built out of fibreglass and - remarkably - homemade. After clambering on top, I lift up the wonky manhole cover and descend into the hull where three men survived for 27 long days and nights, as they voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean just under the surface of the crashing waves. [...]
The heat and noise would have been intense as the engine in the back of the sub burned through the 20,000 litres of fuel stored onboard. The crew of two Ecuadorean cousins and a former Spanish boxer set out from the Brazilian rainforest and first travelled along the Amazon river. They had energy bars, cans of sardines and plastic bags they used for toilet facilities. That was about all they had. Apart, of course, from three tonnes of cocaine worth more than $ 150 m (£ 121 m). [...] After scuttling their vessel near the coast of Galicia, having run into problems, the men were arrested and jailed. [...]
In fact, it's thought hundreds of homemade submarines have been launched towards Europe, which is the biggest cocaine market after the US, and one that's growing rapidly after a Covid pandemic slump.
Schneemann