A unexpected side affect of Russian in S. America..

[crockett]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/19/drug.subs/index.html

We are now actually catching South American drug runners. I would bet you anything the only reason we caught these two subs in the last week, was because of the ratcheting up of tensions with the Russians having their Navy in South American waters. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we have US subs in the area and a lot of surveillance going on.

lol I suspect there is going to be a big price increase in the drug market during this current tit for tat we are playing with the Ruskies. I think the Drug Cartel is gonna have to park their submersible fleet for a while.. 

[Jackal1]

A couple of press tokens for election year to secure jobs.
Now the cash flow business can resume as normal.

[crockett]

heh. Yea I'm sure the Drug Cartels will have a few more of these boats laying around somewhere. Hell at a 100 million a boat load I'm quite sure they will figure something out..    Give up a few pawns for the cause I guess.

[Phaser11]

I wonder who is going to cover the bailout of the drug guys when they go under? 

[Reschke]

I wouldn't exactly call that thing a submersible. Especially since they have all these open exhaust vents that can take on water. It looks like a knocked down cigarette boat with an ultra low profile to avoid visual and radar detection to me.

I would not be surprised if at some point a diesel submarine that used to operate in former Soviet or Chinese control turned up transporting drugs for one of the cartels. Then you have to find the transfer point and the boats running from the sub into shore and that would be an extremely difficult operation at best.

[Elfie]

I wouldn't exactly call that thing a submersible.

The article calls them semi-submersibles, not sure why since they don't actually submerge at all. They simply have an ultra low profile that is very difficult to detect visually and with radar.

Yea I'm sure the Drug Cartels will have a few more of these boats laying around somewhere.

The article says these boats are being built in the jungle, so if the drug cartel loses one, they just build another to replace it would be my guess.

[SkyRock]

I wonder who is going to cover the bailout of the drug guys when they go under? 

There system is not based on paper, its based on goods!

[MrRiplEy[H]]

During the prohibition the alcohol smugglers often towed a 'fish' that looks like a torpedo or a series of underwater containers in addition to having smuggler-special speedboats. If the law tried to inspect the boats they simply released the cable and let the goods sink in the bottom.

After the police patrol was long gone they took a hook and sink and towed the containers back up from the bottom.

Of course that won't work if you have 2km of water - the gulf of Finland is 3-30 meters deep generally.

[Hawker25]

wasn't there a case here a few years ago where they busted some drug cartel trying to buy an old submarine from the russians to smuggle drugs in.

[Phaser11]

There system is not based on paper, its based on goods!

Well said! I wonder if one of them sink if the fish hang around for a quidk buzz?

[crockett]

I wouldn't exactly call that thing a submersible. Especially since they have all these open exhaust vents that can take on water. It looks like a knocked down cigarette boat with an ultra low profile to avoid visual and radar detection to me.

I would not be surprised if at some point a diesel submarine that used to operate in former Soviet or Chinese control turned up transporting drugs for one of the cartels. Then you have to find the transfer point and the boats running from the sub into shore and that would be an extremely difficult operation at best.

Yea I know they aren't subs in the classic sense, they are just low profile custom boats. However one of the first subs was the US Monitor from the Civil War which was of similar design and was considered a sub even though it didn't fully submerge.

As for the Russian Sub's deal and the Drug Cartels, well that was tried and the guy was busted. If you ever saw the movie Lord of War it was loosely based around a real arms dealer that got busted for doing just that. He had a deal set up to sell one of the old Russian subs to one of the major Drug Cartels and it was going to be staffed with the old Russian crew. This was back after the USSR first collapsed and none of the military was getting paid.

[crockett]

There system is not based on paper, its based on goods!

Yes one could say the drug trade is the only "true" free market in the US. 



btw this is one that was caught in 2007 which is almost the same design..So it's likely these guys have a decent sized fleet of boats or they can build new ones pretty easily.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/12/run-silent-run.html

[Tarmac]

However one of the first subs was the US Monitor from the Civil War which was of similar design and was considered a sub even though it didn't fully submerge.

What?  The USS Monitor?  A sub?  It had no depth controls or submerging ability whatsoever, just a low profile.

You must be confusing it with the CSS Hunley.