The commander of Ecuador’s coast guard surveyed the drug-carrying submarine with a weary gaze. His exhaustion was palpable, a testament to the endless interdiction efforts that seem to make little dent in the relentless flow of cocaine. His sailors risk their lives daily, yet the narcotics keep moving.
“Drug smugglers,” he confessed, “are always many steps ahead.”
Consider this: the Ecuadorian Navy operates a mere two submarines. The cartels? Their fleet size remains a mystery, but it’s undoubtedly far larger.
Over the past decade and a half, Ecuador has seized roughly a dozen fully and semi-submersible vessels. American authorities estimate that this represents only a tiny fraction of such crafts intercepted worldwide.
We found ourselves at the sprawling naval base in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s most populous city, amidst a stark display of seized drug-trafficking ships. It was a silent graveyard of sun-baked fishing boats, stealthy semi-submersibles, and one massive metal submarine, all confiscated by the navy, some with assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
This diverse collection of vessels serves as a stark reminder of the cartels’ ingenuity, constantly devising new methods to transport drugs across the globe.
Just last week, the U.S. military targeted a semi-submersible in the Caribbean, alleging it was transporting cocaine. Two individuals perished in the strike, but there were two survivors, including an Ecuadorian man who has since been repatriated.
These strikes are part of the current administration’s aggressive campaign to dismantle vessels suspected of drug smuggling. (Notably, a similar attack occurred off the coast of Colombia recently, marking the first such incident in the Pacific.)
However, many experts argue that these U.S. military actions may contravene international law.
While traditional rickety fishing boats and speedboats still account for significant amounts of cocaine moved from South America to the United States, semi-submersible vessels first appeared in the 1990s as a sophisticated means to evade U.S. authorities.
Typically, the majority of these vessels remain submerged, with only a small fiberglass cockpit visible above the water for navigation. According to the Ecuadorian Navy, these boats usually measure about 50 feet in length, carry a crew of up to four, and can transport up to two tons of cocaine.
The Ecuadorian coast guard estimated the construction cost of one seized semi-submersible at approximately $1 million. In stark contrast, a single ton of cocaine can fetch about $25 million in the United States.
By the mid-2000s, South American navies began encountering full-fledged submarines. The massive, 30-yard-long vessel now housed at the Guayaquil naval base is one such example. Discovered in 2010, it cost an estimated $2 million to build and was capable of carrying up to 10 tons of cocaine, the coast guard commander revealed.
As law enforcement agencies adopted thermal imaging cameras for underwater detection, drug traffickers responded by covering their vessels in lead and outfitting them with cooling devices to mask their heat signatures, as reported by a prominent research organization.
The capabilities and reach of these submarines have expanded significantly over time. Initially, they could only smuggle drugs from South America to Central America. Today, they are capable of traversing the vast Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, reaching distant shores in Europe, Africa, and Australia, often traveling thousands of miles without needing to refuel.
Ecuador has emerged as a critical player in the global drug trade, with an estimated 70 percent of the world’s cocaine passing through the country. While not a production hub itself, its shared border with Colombia—the world’s largest cocaine producer—and the bustling ports of Guayaquil, which ship bananas, fish, and shrimp globally, offer lucrative opportunities for cartels.
Ecuador’s Pacific coast, and the Pacific region generally, accounts for the majority of the world’s cocaine flow, surpassing the Caribbean, according to U.S. and U.N. data. This surge in drug activity has also fueled a dramatic rise in violence, transforming Ecuador from one of Latin America’s safest nations to one of its most perilous.
As I spoke with the coast guard commander—whose identity is being protected for security reasons—fireworks erupted in the nearby distance.
“They do that every time a shipment reaches its destination,” he explained with a resigned sigh, referring to the gang that controls the neighborhood adjacent to the base.
A simple brick wall, topped with flimsy barbed wire, serves as the only barrier between Ecuador’s largest naval installation and the sprawling, impoverished community next door. This neighborhood is under the control of Los Lobos, one of the country’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations. This gang, according to U.S., European, and Ecuadorian officials, collaborates closely with Mexican cartels and Albanian and Italian organized crime groups to facilitate global cocaine smuggling.
Just last month, the State Department officially designated Los Lobos as a terrorist organization.
I inquired if the coast guard commander felt apprehensive living so close to the very enemy his forces combat, or if he ever worried about Los Lobos scaling the walls to attack his sailors or sabotage their equipment.
“Sometimes,” he admitted, shrugging with a “well, what can you do?” expression on his face.
José María León Cabrera also contributed to this report from Guayaquil, Ecuador.