How uncrewed narco subs could transform the Colombian drug trade

Colombia seizes its first uncrewed narco sub

Colombian authorities have intercepted the country’s first confirmed uncrewed narco sub. The 40-foot-long semisubmersible was captured off Tayrona National Park in April and found to be a remote-controlled, potentially autonomous vessel built by a drug cartel.

Inside, the Colombian Coast Guard found no crew or cocaine. Instead, they discovered a fuel tank, an autopilot system, and a Starlink satellite internet terminal. The vessel is believed to be a prototype from the powerful Clan del Golfo criminal group.

The economics of traditional narco subs

For decades, handmade semisubmersibles have been a key tool for moving cocaine. They offer a balance between the high risk of fast boats and the slow, expensive method of hiding drugs in commercial shipping containers.

A typical fiberglass narco sub costs under $2 million to build and can carry up to three metric tons of cocaine. That cargo is worth over $160 million at European wholesale prices.

Seizures of these vessels have tripled in the last 20 years. They are now making longer journeys, including a 27-day transatlantic voyage from Brazil to Spain in 2019 and a trip to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific in 2024.

Why traffickers want drone ships

Removing the crew solves several major problems for cartels. It eliminates human risk, reduces costs, and allows for longer, more patient voyages.

“If you don’t have a person or people on board, that makes the transoceanic routes much more feasible,” says Henry Shuldiner, a researcher at InSight Crime. A crewed mission across an ocean is a hard sell, requiring people to be sealed in a cramped tube for weeks.

An autonomous vessel can:

• Move more slowly and stealthily.
• Wait out patrols or bad weather.
• Be scuttled remotely if intercepted.
• Carry more fuel or drugs in space previously used for crew.

Off-the-shelf tech enables the shift

The captured Tayrona sub was built with commercially available components. Its core navigation system was a NAC-3 autopilot, a $2,200 unit designed for midsize boats.

“These are plug-and-play technologies,” says Wilmar Martínez, a mechatronics professor at the University of America in Bogotá. “Midcareer mechatronics students could install them.”

The sub also used a Starlink terminal for connectivity and security cameras for remote monitoring. This reliance on consumer tech suggests the barrier to building such vessels is falling rapidly.

Law enforcement scrambles for a response

Stopping uncrewed subs presents new challenges. Boarding a vessel that could be wired to sink or explode upon intrusion is dangerous and could destroy evidence.

Authorities are exploring electronic countermeasures, including:

• Jamming or spoofing the sub’s satellite communications.
• Using cyber tools to disrupt its control systems.
• Developing agreements with satellite providers like Starlink to flag suspicious terminal movements.

Long-term, the solution may be “robot on robot” warfare. The U.S. 4th Fleet is already experimenting with uncrewed platforms for patrols, anticipating a future where navies use drone swarms to hunt drone subs.

An uncertain future for drug interdiction

While the Tayrona sub is a significant technological leap, analysts don't expect it to immediately revolutionize the drug trade. Cartels will likely continue using a mix of methods.

“I don’t think this is revolutionary,” Shuldiner says. “But it’s a great example of how resilient cocaine traffickers are, and how they’re continuously one step ahead of authorities.”

The captured vessel now sits on a naval base in Cartagena, where it has become a site of pilgrimage for international security agencies. They all share the same fear: the next sub they board will be full of cocaine and gadgets, but no people, and no clear playbook for what to do next.