MADRID: Spanish authorities intercepted another submarine suspected of transporting drugs to Europe from South America and arrested four Colombian nationals who were crewing the vessel, officials said Thursday.
Police rescued the occupants after they had scuttled the 20-meter (65-foot) long narco-submarine 518 kilometers (312 miles) west of Cadiz on Tuesday, when it was heading for the mainland.
Due to the characteristics of the boat and the crew’s behavior, authorities believed that it transported cocaine, the Civil Guard said in a statement on Wednesday.
The crew surfaced safely while the submarine flooded and sank with its cargo, the statement added.
The Civil Guard told the Associated Press that they would not try to retrieve the vessel which is believed to be at a depth of 1,000 meters (0.6 miles),
The submarine, which departed from Colombia, is similar to those intercepted by authorities in previous operations in northwestern Spain in 2019 — when three metric tons of cocaine were confiscated — — and last year.
Similar vessels have been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, especially near Central and South America. They usually sail underwater at shallow depths and are rarely able to submerge.
The Colombian and Ecuadorian authorities have been working on the seizure of this sort of semi-submersible. The Colombian Navy said that in 2024 they have uncovered 13 such vessels laden with illicit drugs in the Pacific.
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Spain arrests four Colombians rescued from submarine suspected of transporting drugs
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Spain arrests four Colombians rescued from submarine suspected of transporting drugs
- Police rescued the occupants after they had scuttled the 20-meter long narco-submarine 518 kilometers west of Cadiz
- The crew surfaced safely while the submarine flooded and sank with its cargo
Merz pushes PA’s Abbas on reforms ahead of Israel trip
BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for reforms of the Palestinian Authority in a phone call with its leader Mahmud Abbas early Saturday, hours before taking off for Israel.
Speaking from Berlin, Merz urged Abbas to push through “urgently necessary reforms” at the Palestinian Authority so that the organization could “play a constructive role in a post-war order,” according to German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.
Merz also underscored German support for US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and “welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s cooperative attitude” toward the deal in the call, the spokesman said.
The fragile ceasefire agreement to end the Gaza war is supposed to be just the first phase of the plan.
Germany is among Israel’s closest allies and most outspoken supporters.
Merz’s call with Abbas came hours before the chancellor was scheduled to leave Berlin late Saturday morning for an overnight visit to Israel.
After a brief stop in Jordan, where Merz is scheduled to meet with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, Merz is expected to arrive in Jerusalem for meetings with top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Merz also plans to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel.
In his call with Abbas, Merz reiterated Germany’s position that a two-state solution remains the ultimate way to achieve peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, according to the spokesman.
Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials hvae repeatedly rejected the prospect of an independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, has also explicitly ruled out a two-state solution.
Speaking from Berlin, Merz urged Abbas to push through “urgently necessary reforms” at the Palestinian Authority so that the organization could “play a constructive role in a post-war order,” according to German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.
Merz also underscored German support for US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and “welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s cooperative attitude” toward the deal in the call, the spokesman said.
The fragile ceasefire agreement to end the Gaza war is supposed to be just the first phase of the plan.
Germany is among Israel’s closest allies and most outspoken supporters.
Merz’s call with Abbas came hours before the chancellor was scheduled to leave Berlin late Saturday morning for an overnight visit to Israel.
After a brief stop in Jordan, where Merz is scheduled to meet with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, Merz is expected to arrive in Jerusalem for meetings with top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Merz also plans to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel.
In his call with Abbas, Merz reiterated Germany’s position that a two-state solution remains the ultimate way to achieve peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, according to the spokesman.
Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials hvae repeatedly rejected the prospect of an independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, has also explicitly ruled out a two-state solution.
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