Six men accused of trafficking large quantities of cocaine into the U.S., Europe, and the Caribbean using a “narco sub” have been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Four suspects are from Guyana, while the remaining two come from Colombia. Officials allege the group used covert maritime and air routes—often with the help of a corrupt Guyanese law enforcement officer—to move tons of cocaine across borders.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that the sanctions also target individuals operating secret airstrips to fly drugs out of the region. “For decades, reported corrupt actors have used Guyana as a transshipment point for the movement of drugs from South America to the United States,” OFAC said. The office also noted that Mexican drug cartels maintain a strong presence in the area.
Guyana’s location, along with alleged corruption at its ports and borders, enables maritime and aerial smuggling operations—often involving “narco-submarines”—to move through the country’s territory largely undetected.
OFAC backed its claim with recent examples. In March, police in Trinidad and Tobago intercepted a cargo vessel from Guyana carrying around 182 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were packaged in bricks stamped with the Toyota logo, a known Sinaloa Cartel signature.
In a separate May operation, Colombian authorities seized over six tons of cocaine and intercepted a “narco sub” off the Pacific coast. Video footage shared on X showed Colombian Navy personnel boarding the low-profile vessel. They also discovered two underground stashes with an additional 270 kilograms of cocaine.
Despite the nickname, narco subs aren’t true submarines. These low-profile vessels (LPVs) don’t fully submerge but sit just above the waterline, making them hard to detect. Built from wood and fiberglass, they are often painted to match ocean waters and can evade radar. According to Colombia’s International Center for Research and Analysis Against Maritime Drug Trafficking (CIMCON), building a single LPV costs about $150,000.
A near-record number of narco subs were intercepted in the Atlantic and Pacific in 2024, according to InSight Crime. These vessels are now surfacing in new maritime zones across both oceans.
