Drug sub could also carry terrorists

HOUSTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A 73-foot submarine built by drug smugglers in South America could have carried seven tons of cocaine, but it could also carry terrorists, U.S. officials said.

Investigators said the fully submersible craft was built in a secret shipyard deep in the Ecuadorian jungle and was capable of making multiple trips to North America, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"There is nothing amateur about it," said Jay Bergman, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's chief of the Andes region. "It is everything it is supposed to be. It is a bona fide long-range, fully submersible craft."

Working on tips, drug enforcement officers captured the vessel seven months ago, before it could make its first trip. They estimated it cost about $5 million to build, but that its first full cargo of pure cocaine would have fetched as much as $100 million.

While its drug smuggling implications are great, officials are worried terrorists might use a small submarine given the opportunity.

"The U.S. military is taking this threat very seriously and thinking through all the implications of this sort of platform," said Laurence McCabe, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College.

The submarine could carry terrorists just as easily as drugs, he said.

"They have now entered into a world of fairly elite, specialized skill sets, which are much easier to track and identify," McCabe said. "They are innovative people, and they are smart, but at some point you run into a technology wall and need to bring in special people."