Suspected 'narco-submarine' breaks apart off Spain

CAMARIQAS, Spain: A suspected "narco-submarine" capable of smuggling drugs broke in two as a fishing boat was towing it to a port in northwestern Spain on Wednesday, police said.

The "Maria Cristina" fishing boat spotted the "semi-submerged" vessel on Wednesday morning at the entrance to the Camarinas-Muxia estuary in the Galicia region and proceeded to tow it to the port of Camarinas after notifying police, the Civil Guard said in a statement.

During the operation "the presumed narco-submarine broke into two sections: the bow, which remains afloat, and the stern, which sank due to its greater weight," the statement added.

Police divers were searching for the sunken parts of the vessel for analysis.

It was not immediately clear if there were any drugs inside it.

Spanish police in 2019 seized a semi-submersible submarine carrying more than 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) of cocaine off the coast of Galicia suspected to have come from south America.

Drug traffickers, especially from Colombia, have been caught using submarines to transport cocaine into Mexico, and from there into the United States.

Most are only semi-submersible - a ship partially submerged that cannot fully dive like a submarine - but some are able to go fully underwater.

Galicia has long been a top entry point for drugs into Europe. A maze of coves, caves and inlets dot its rugged coastline, making it a smuggler's paradise.