“Narco subs” trafficking cocaine focused in newest U.S. sanction

Six accused drug traffickers allegedly utilizing boats and “narco subs” to site visitors cocaine had been hit with U.S. sanctions, the U.S. Division of the Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management stated Thursday.

4 Guyanese nationals — Paul Daby Jr., Randolph Duncan, Mark Cromwell, Himnauth Sawh — and two Colombians — Yeison Andres Sanchez Vallejo and Manuel Salazar Gutierrez — had been sanctioned for allegedly trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to america, Europe and the Caribbean, officers stated. 

Daby Jr. and Duncan function the most important drug trafficking operation in Guayana, in accordance with U.S. officers, utilizing “narco subs” — a semi-submersible vessel that may’t totally go underwater — airstrips and varied people of their smuggling efforts. Daby Jr. additionally transports unlawful gold from Guyana, whereas Duncan traffics cocaine from Guyana to Africa and the Caribbean to Europe and america, the Treasury stated.

The Treasury Division stated Cromwell, a former Guyana police officer, is needed for his alleged function within the abduction of one other Guyana police officer in 2024. Sawh, a Guyana police officer, is accused of facilitating protected passage for Mexican and Venezuelan drug traffickers sending cocaine by means of Guyana. Colombians Sanchez and Salazar are accused of overseeing airstrips utilized by plane smuggling cocaine from Colombia to Guyana, the Treasury stated.

“Because of in the present day’s motion, all property and pursuits in property of the designated or blocked individuals described above which might be in america or within the possession or management of U.S. individuals are blocked and have to be reported to OFAC,” the Treasure Division stated.

Guyana has develop into a serious hotspot for operating cocaine by means of the South American nation to america and Europe. U.S. Treasury officers of their assertion stated a mix of Guyana’s proximity to the Caribbean and alleged corruption at its ports and alongside its borders assist plane and “narco subs” transfer by means of the nation’s waters with out being detected.

Regardless of crackdown makes an attempt, authorities have found report quantities of cocaine in home made “narco subs”  transversing by means of rivers threading the nation’s jungles. In March 2025, a cargo vessel originating in Guyana was found by police within the waters off Trinidad and Tobago with roughly 182 kilograms of cocaine, U.S. officers stated. 

Final yr, authorities discovered greater than 8,000 kilos of cocaine in a lush jungle close to the border with Venezuela. “Narco subs” can transport as a lot as 3 tons of cocaine at a time. Interpol, the intergovernmental group that facilitates worldwide policing, warned that traffickers within the area can steer semi-submersibles by means of the rivers of South America earlier than crossing the Atlantic Ocean and ultimately arriving in Western Europe.