THIS is the moment a narco submarine carrying more than 1.7 tonnes of cocaine is swiftly intercepted in the Atlantic Ocean.
The huge underwater vessel was believed to be on a drug trafficking mission to flood the UK and Europe with the dangerous Class A substance.
Daring footage shows the moment the Portuguese Judicial Police (PJ) and Navy hunt down the drugs vessel destined for the Iberian Peninsula.
Two police boats speed after the sub crashing through the waves in the Atlantic.
They quickly surround the floating vessel as officers commandeer it and step on board.
The semi-submersible had four crew members inside, along with the haul of drugs, Portuguese authorities detailed.
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All four older men were topless as they sat among rubbish which sat on the rear of the sub as well as an old tyre and some blue ropes.
The men immediately surrendered and raised their hands above their heads when caught.
They had hidden the drugs inside the boat with the footage showing dozens of orange cases believed to contain the masses of cocaine inside.
Cops also found mattresses and luggage on board as well as essentials such as mouthwash and water bottles – suggesting the men had been travelling across multiple days.
The operation, dubbed “El Dorado”, also involved the Portuguese Air Force, as well as the British National Crime Agency (NCA) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
It comes just weeks after a Royal Marine Commando sniper took out a smuggling gang’s speedboat engine with a single shot.
The chopper pilot was flying backwards when he made the remarkable £35million drugs bust in October.
The Ministry of Defence said the mission, launched from HMS Lancaster, was one of the most dramatic counter-drugs intercepts the Royal Navy has been involved with in the Middle East.
Three boats were stopped and more than 1.5 tons of drugs recovered.
A gang of cocaine smugglers were also jailed in September after they were caught on camera being chased by cops across a popular UK beach.
Shocking footage shows three of the seven now jailed criminals fleeing from cops on an inflatable boat which had £18.4m worth of drugs on board.
I went inside deathtrap ‘narco sub’ used to smuggle cocaine
By Oliver Harvey, Chief Feature Writer
CLAMBERING down into the claustrophobic gloom of the first transatlantic narco-submarine in Europe, it feels like I’ve entered a floating coffin.
Built by drug lords in the Amazon jungle, its fibreglass body echoes to my knock while its control panel has a few rudimentary dials and a key rusting in the ignition.
Sitting at the helm of the 65ft craft — with soot from its diesel engine caking my hands — it is clear there is only enough room for one member of crew to sit upright comfortably.
Indeed, there was no space onboard for even a toilet.
Instead, men relieved themselves out of the sub’s hatch above their heads, when surfaced, or resorted to using plastic bags.
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