A couple of weeks ago I read (via audio-book) a fictional story about crime, a couple of lovable criminals, and a less-than-successful Colombian drug lord whose last big attempt at wealth involved, of all things, smuggling cocaine in a small submarine. The sub was to have travelled from South America, along the Texas Gulf Coast, and finally to Florida. Unfortunately the sub was of inferior quality and sank to the bottom as soon as it was about three hundred yards off shore. Too bad. It was a very interesting book but the submarine caper was just a small sub-plot within the bigger picture.
Imagine my surprise to read the news today that a Border Patrol air unit based in Corpus Christi spotted what they thought looked like...yes...like a submarine, prowling through the waters off the Texas coast. This submarine was probably not the best of the best. For one thing, it appeared that the crew had no way of knowing they had been spotted. Second, the submarine could not submerge! At least not more than a few feet below the ocean's surface. These are two drawbacks, I suppose, of not having a large budget for a submarine. Maybe.
In any case, the Border Patrol air unit made contact with the US Coast Guard and reported this sighting. Within a few hours of first contact, a Coast Guard cutter, supported by a few more lethal ships, stopped the submarine, boarded it, and arrested the crew. No, the submarine was not piloted by spies...just a couple of drug smugglers. Inside the vessel's hold, 5.5 tons of cocaine was found, believed to be worth about (ready for this?) TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!! What a bust! I was surprised (a little, anyway) that smuggling cocaine by sub was really a thing. But here is another question: If a drug smuggling organization has the clout to smuggle $200,000,000 worth of dope in ONE LOAD, shouldn't it be able to score a REAL submarine as well? I bet they are taking another look at this little disaster.
Anyway, kudos to the good guys...and truth really is at LEAST as strange as fiction!
God Bless America
Imagine my surprise to read the news today that a Border Patrol air unit based in Corpus Christi spotted what they thought looked like...yes...like a submarine, prowling through the waters off the Texas coast. This submarine was probably not the best of the best. For one thing, it appeared that the crew had no way of knowing they had been spotted. Second, the submarine could not submerge! At least not more than a few feet below the ocean's surface. These are two drawbacks, I suppose, of not having a large budget for a submarine. Maybe.
In any case, the Border Patrol air unit made contact with the US Coast Guard and reported this sighting. Within a few hours of first contact, a Coast Guard cutter, supported by a few more lethal ships, stopped the submarine, boarded it, and arrested the crew. No, the submarine was not piloted by spies...just a couple of drug smugglers. Inside the vessel's hold, 5.5 tons of cocaine was found, believed to be worth about (ready for this?) TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!! What a bust! I was surprised (a little, anyway) that smuggling cocaine by sub was really a thing. But here is another question: If a drug smuggling organization has the clout to smuggle $200,000,000 worth of dope in ONE LOAD, shouldn't it be able to score a REAL submarine as well? I bet they are taking another look at this little disaster.
Anyway, kudos to the good guys...and truth really is at LEAST as strange as fiction!
God Bless America
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