US Coast Guard takes down drug-smuggling sub on high seas

CORONADO, Calif. (WHTM) – The U.S. Coast Guard has released dramatic video of a crew boarding a self-propelled, semi-submersible drug-smuggling vessel in international waters off South America.

In the video of the pursuit taken last month, a crew member of the Coast Guard cutter Munro repeatedly shouts “Stop the boat!” in Spanish. The crew closes in on the vessel, and two crew members jump on top of it.

One of the crew members pounds on the hatch until a man opens it with his hands raised. The man is taken into custody as the video ends.

The Coast Guard said the vessel was carrying over 16,000 pounds of cocaine. Five people were on board.

The video was released Thursday as Vice President Mike Pence welcomed the crew of the Munro back to the U.S. at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado.

The crew turned over 39,000 pounds of cocaine to federal agents. The narcotics, with an estimated street value of $569 million, were seized in 14 U.S. Coast Guard busts off Central and South America since May.

Fifty-five smuggling suspects were taken into custody.