In the Navy…

I’ve heard that the cocaine traffickers have their own Army, but it seems they have a navy, too.  Notice that the cocaine needed in the United States doesn’t have to go though Mexico, and alternative routes are already feasible.  (From Der Speigel Online International.  Sombrero tip to Guanabee):

Small, homemade submarines have become the preferred means of transport for the Colombian drug cartels — and a completely new challenge for the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS), a group consisting of members of the United States Navy, Coast Guard, CIA and drug control agents from 12 other countries.

The boats, made of plastic or steel, can carry up to 10 tons of cocaine each. Because they cannot submerge completely, the correct term for the boats is semi-submersibles. They are used primarily on the drug trafficking routes between Colombia and Guatemala or Mexico. The cartels have devised a complete logistics system, with fishing boats stationed along the way to warn the crews against patrols and provide them with food and water.

…

he semi-submersibles are already in their third generation. The new boats have larger diesel tanks, giving them a range of about 5,000 kilometers (3,105 miles), and they feature the latest in navigation equipment. Fishermen hired specifically for the task are often at the controls, and those who complete the trip successfully are paid more than $100,000 (€64,000). Once the smugglers have unloaded their cargo, somewhere off the coast of Guatemala or Mexico, they sink the boat. The homemade vessels, which come at a price tag of up to $1 million (€640,000), are disposable products. “If this continues, we’ll see the submarines traveling from eastern Brazil to West Africa, a distance of more than 3,000 kilometers (1,863 miles),” says Rear Admiral Nimmich.