Smuggling drugs underwater

Columbian drug traffickers have turned to smuggling drugs underwater.

Colombian cocaine traffickers are taking smuggling operations underwater...using what's become known as a semi-submersible.

Almost impossible to spot from the sky, these makeshift submarines travel beneath the waves...with only small breathing tubes and navigational equipment piercing the waters' surface.

This video shows Colombian Naval officers intercepting a group of traffickers they suspect could be packing ten tons of the illegal powder.

Busted...the traffickers open a hatch to the ocean....sinking their sub...and dumping their drugs to the ocean floor.

But despite traces of cocaine on their clothing, under maritime rules, the crew is treated as castaways...and no charges are pressed.

Still, authorities say they're satisfied the illegal substances don't reach shore.

SOUNDBITE: Gustavo Angel, Colombian Navy Captain, saying (Spanish):

"You could say that it is partially a successful mission because they have been punished by not allowing that drug to accomplish its objective and reach international markets."

In less than three years, it's estimated Colombian smugglers have intentionally sent 31 tons of cocaine to the bottom of the Pacific.

Katharine Jackson Reuters.