Dramatic footage from a U.S. Coast Guard raid shows two armed officers jumping onto a moving submarine full of drugs and alleged smugglers in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The footage was recorded on June 18 in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The semi-submersible was later found to contain a large amount of cocaine.
In the video, two U.S. Coast Guard boats can be seen speeding through choppy waves in pursuit of the semi-submersible, which is cruising with the top of its hull just above the surface. The video shows one boat pulling up alongside the sub while a coast guard officer shouts at the suspected smugglers in Spanish.
The officer also expresses doubt about boarding the sub.
“That’s going to be hard to get on,” he says in English.
The boat catches up long enough for two armed officers to hop over the side onto the surface of the sub. The lead officer immediately starts hammering on the submarine’s hatch while large waves splash across his legs. The hatch pops open a few seconds later, revealing a man inside with his hands up in surrender.
Both officers who boarded the sub appeared to be heavily armed and entirely out of place in their camouflage fatigues. They did not appear to be equipped with life vests.
The bust was part of a major coast guard campaign that has confiscated 17,690 kilograms of cocaine and 423 kilograms of marijuana since May. The drugs have a total street value of approximately $569 million, the coast guard says.
Fifty-five smuggling suspects were arrested over 14 operations conducted in international waters off Mexico, Central and South America.
—With files from The Associated Press