Colombia has seized a remote-controlled, unmanned narco-submarine, designed for autonomous operations and equipped with a Starlink antenna.
According to local authorities, it belongs to local Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo) drug cartel and was capable of transporting 1.5 tons of cocaine. The vessel was found near Santa Marta, on the Caribbean Coast, and contained no drugs. The Colombian Navy believes traffickers were conducting tests before using it.
Read more…
Source: Colombia One News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Colombian Soldier Dies After Guerrilla Fighters Set Off Bomb Strapped To a Donkey
July 10, 2025
A Colombian soldier died and two others were wounded on Wednesday after guerrilla members set off a bomb strapped to a donkey, local officials said. The attack took place in Valdivia, in the department of Antioquia, and was attributed to the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN). Antioquia governor Andres Julian Rendon reacted to the episode, criticizing the government ...
- Colombian National Army deals a powerful blow to the Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc, with the destruction of 59 explosive devices in Puerto Rico, Caquetá
July 4, 2025
Within the framework of the Ayacucho Plus Campaign Plan and as part of the sustained operations to protect the inhabitants and neutralize terrorist threats, troops of the Twelfth Brigade, unit a of the Sixth Division of Colombian National Army, found and destroyed two illegal hiding places with 59 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), in the rural ...
- Colombia Seizes Remote-Controlled Narco-Submarine Equipped with Starlink Antenna
July 3, 2025
Colombia has seized a remote-controlled, unmanned narco-submarine, designed for autonomous operations and equipped with a Starlink antenna. According to local authorities, it belongs to local Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo) drug cartel and was capable of transporting 1.5 tons of cocaine. The vessel was found near Santa Marta, on the Caribbean Coast, and contained no drugs. ...
- Illicit Innovation: Latin America Is Not Prepared to Fight Criminal Drones
June 11, 2025
The scene is by now all too familiar for those acquainted with coverage of modern war. A bird’s-eye view frames two figures ambling about below, then charts the path of an improvised explosive charge as it tumbles down, impacting with a puff of smoke and an explosion that is felt, not heard, through the camera ...
- Colombia: At least four dead in wave of explosions outside police stations in southwest
June 10, 2025
At least four people were killed in Colombia on Tuesday as rebel groups detonated bombs near police stations in the city of Cali and the neighboring Cauca province, according to authorities. Military and police spokespeople blamed the attacks on the FARC-EMC, a group led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who broke ...
- Colombia: Troops of the Omega Task Force neutralized four explosive devices in the southeast
June 5, 2025
Within the framework of the Ayacucho Plus Campaign Plan conducted by the Omega Task Force of Colombian National Army, four improvised explosive devices were destroyed in two military operations. In the first operation, in the Peñas Coloradas village of Cartagena del Chairá, in Caquetá, the Rapid Deployment Force Nº 12 carried out tasks that led to ...
- Mexico arrests 10 Colombian ex-soldiers after deadly blast
May 30, 2025
Ten Colombian former soldiers were among the suspects arrested after an improvised landmine killed six Mexican troops in a drug cartel heartland this week, authorities said Friday. More than 40 explosive devices were seized along with other weapons in the western state of Michoacan, according to statements from the national and local governments. In total, 17 ...
- Colombia’s Bicentenario pipeline stops pumping after attack
May 29, 2025
Pumping on Colombia’s Bicentenario pipeline was suspended after an attack with explosives, its operator Cenit, a subsidiary of state-run energy company Ecopetrol, said on Thursday. The attack, in Arauca province, was committed by an unknown group, Cenit said in a statement. Bombings of pipelines are common in Colombia and are often carried out by rebel groups ...
- Venezuela suspends flights from Colombia after arrests of ‘mercenaries’
May 20, 2025
Venezuela has suspended flights from neighbouring Colombia after authorities detained more than 30 people allegedly plotting activities to destabilise the country before Sunday’s parliamentary election. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on state television on Monday that the flight ban was “immediate” and would last for a week. Cabello said the antigovernment plans involved placing explosives ...
- Colombia: Sok, the explosive detection trained dog that prevented attacks in Neiva, department of Huila
April 29, 2025
Under pressure of the Military Forces, the perpetrators abandoned a cloth bag containing four explosive devices, each weighing approximately one kilogram, in a wooded area. The troops moved to the place, and following the security protocols, the Sok on a thorough tour of the area made the positive signal that confirmed the presence of explosive material. ...
- New Frontlines and an Uncertain Future for Mine Clearance in Colombia
March 26, 2025
Nearly a decade after the landmark 2016 Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and a communist guerilla group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the prevalence of landmines remains a critical issue in the country. As mine clearance efforts turn toward active conflict zones in Colombia where humanitarian law is disregarded, buried and ...
- Colombia: Violent turf war in Bogotá’s San Bernardo leaves three dead, nine injured
March 13, 2025
An explosion rocked Bogotá’s San Bernardo neighborhood on the night of Wednesday, March 12, leaving three dead and nine injured. Authorities confirmed the incident was caused by a grenade, which detonated near the Bicentenario station of TransMilenio, at the intersection of Carrera Décima and Calle 3. The Santa Fe locality is known for having a significant ...
- Colombia: 17 hurt in explosion in Morales, as peace talks break down
February 25, 2025
An apparent bomb attack in Colombia’s restive southwest wounded 17 people on Monday including three children and two police officers, authorities said, amid growing concern for a fragile peace process. A device, probably a bomb attached to a motorcycle, exploded outside a police station in the town of Morales, Octavio Guzman, governor of the Cauca department, ...
- Mexico: Jalisco Cartel using fake bodyguard job ads to recruit ex Colombian soldiers to produce landmines
February 19, 2025
The Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) is actively recruiting Colombian soldiers in order to handle the installation and production of explosives, more concretely landmines, according to testimony from a former Colombian soldier. The former member of Colombia’s armed forces was allegedly recruited by the Jalisco cartel in 2023. Known as “El Pascual,” the former soldier spent ...
- Colombia: At least 80 people killed in northeast as peace talks fail
January 19, 2025
More than 80 people have been killed in the country’s northeast region following failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said. Twenty others have been injured, according to William Villamizar, governor of North Santander, where many of the killings occurred. Among the victims are community leader Carmelo Guerrero and ...
