Portuguese police have made a record seizure of nearly nine tonnes of cocaine from a narco-submarine near the Azores. The semi-submersible vessel was intercepted about 230 nautical miles off the Azores during a joint operation with Portugal's navy and air force. The operation was coordinated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the UK National Crime Agency. Four men on board—three Colombians and one Venezuelan—were arrested. According to the Portuguese Judicial Police (PJ), the vessel came from Latin America and carried 300 bales of cocaine. The ship later sank in the Atlantic Ocean, taking 35 bales with it. A police spokesperson called this "the biggest seizure of cocaine ever in Portugal." Portuguese media estimate the drugs could be worth up to €600 million (£521 million). Semi-submersible drug vessels like this have been used in South and Central America since the 1980s but were first detected in European waters in 2006. The first fully loaded narco-sub in Europe was found in Spain in 2019 with three tonnes of cocaine. Recently, Spanish police seized 3.6 tonnes brought by narco-sub. Spanish officials say falling cocaine prices have led traffickers to reuse narco-subs, turning them into refueling platforms for multiple trips. Separately, Spanish police disrupted a major cocaine smuggling ring that used speedboats and offshore bases to move over 57 tonnes of cocaine into Europe last year. The crackdown resulted in 105 arrests and 30 boats seized. These gangs used complex sea operations, including fuel storage and long stays at sea, to avoid detection. They even paid €12 million (£10.4 million) to keep a gang member’s family silent after his death to protect their criminal activities.