Federales Nab Colombian Smuggler/Seaman
December 16th, 2008 by Perry
Enrique Portocarrero, a Colombian shrimp fisherman, was recently arrested and now faces extradition to the United States, on smuggling and conspiracy charges.
Portocarrero was charged with building more than a dozen mini-semi-submersibles, similar to a submarine although the crafts don’t fully submerge.
The vessels are designed to carry up to 8 tons of cargo and went for a million dollars a pop. The real value lied in the ship’s ability to avoid detection; leaving a small heat signature and negligible sonar appearance. The craft could make make the money back several times over after one trip.
The shift to submarines was made over a year ago, when all licensed craft off of the Colombian and Ecuadorean coasts became required to carry GPS signals, so police could track them.
Some of the semi-sub’s specs:
- 60-feet long
- 350-horsepower diesel engines
- Four-man crew
- State-of-the-art radio, GPS and satellite telephone communications
- Range of 2,000 miles
