- Guatemala intercepted a semisubmersible off its coast Friday and towed it to a southern naval base.
- Two Ecuadorans and one Colombian were arrested aboard the vessel.
- Authorities seized more than 1.7 tons of drugs valued at about $23.2 million.
- Prosecutor's office called the seizure a heavy blow to transnational organized crime.
- Regional cartels use Central America to transport cocaine, fueling violence; Guatemala reported 3,210 murders last year linked to gang conflicts.
Guatemalan authorities have intercepted a narcotics-laden submarine, arrested two Ecuadorans and a Colombian on board, and seized more than 1.7 tons of drugs, the prosecutor’s office said Monday.
The narcotics were worth an estimated $23.2 million, according to spokesman Moises Ortiz.
He said the semisubmersible vessel was detained Friday in international waters off the Guatemalan coast and brought to a naval base in the country’s south for the haul to be tallied.
The prosecutor’s office described the seizure as “a heavy blow to transnational organized crime.”
Last year, Guatemala seized more than 11 tons of cocaine, according to the interior ministry — a 20 percent drop from 2020.
According to official sources, international cartels, with the help of local traffickers, transport drugs and launder money in Guatemala and the rest of Central America, generating violence in the region.
In Guatemala, many of the 3,210 murders last year have been attributed to gang wars over control of the drug trade, bus routes, and extortion.
According to US authorities, some 90 percent of the cocaine that enters American soil arrives via Mexico and Central America in small planes, boats and submarines.
Much of it comes from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia in South America.
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