Wie unbemannte Drogen-U-Boote den kolumbianischen Drogenhandel verändern könnten

Fast, stealthy, and cheap—autonomous, semisubmersible drone boats carrying tons of cocaine could be international law enforcement’s nightmare scenario. A big one just came ashore.

For decades, handmade narco subs have been some of the cocaine trade’s most elusive and productive workhorses, ferrying multi-ton loads of illicit drugs from Colombian estuaries toward markets in North America and, increasingly, the rest of the world. Now off-the-shelf technology—Starlink terminals, plug-and-play nautical autopilots, high-resolution video cameras—may be advancing that cat-and-mouse game into a new phase.

Uncrewed subs could move more cocaine over longer distances, and they wouldn’t put human smugglers at risk of capture. Law enforcement around the world is just beginning to grapple with what the sub that came ashore means for the future—whether it was merely an isolated experiment or the opening move in a new era of autonomous drug smuggling at sea.