Abandoned submarine was filled with cocaine

Spanish authorities say a homemade submarine abandoned off the country’s northwest coast had three tonnes of cocaine on board.

National police and the finance ministry said it is the first-time drug smugglers have attempted to use a submarine in Europe.

They said using submarines to smuggle cocaine is “very common” in the United States.

An international operation involving police from Spain, Portugal, the US, the UK and Brazil tracked the fibreglass vessel across the Atlantic.

The submarine was due to pass the cocaine to another vessel, but the three people on board abandoned the submarine amid rough seas off Spain last Saturday night.

Two Ecuador nationals were arrested. A third is at large.