Submarine Loaded with Five tons of cocaine seized in Mexico

The self-propelled, semi-submersible craft, which is partially visible from the surface, was spotted 300 miles south west of the Mexico-Guatemala border by drug-surveillance aircraft patrolling the eastern Pacific.

When the four-man crew saw an approaching Navy ship and realised they had been spotted, they attempted to scuttle the submarine along with most of its cargo.

The 30-foot (10-meter) makeshift submarine was detected heading north about 200 miles (322 kilometers) off the southern state of Oaxaca, Mar said.

The green-topped, arrowhead-shaped vessel was intercepted when it surfaced hours later, and the crew was taken into custody without resistance.

The suspects were flown by helicopter to the city of Huatulco, where they told reporters they left the Colombian coastal town of Buenaventura a week ago.

The crew members said they were fishermen forced to make the journey by drug traffickers who threatened to harm their families.

"We didn't know what was on board because we never saw it. It was sealed," said one of the four, Jose Felix Enriquez