In Colombia, they call him Captain Nemo

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Tumaco, Colombia -- Squat, bull-necked and sullen-looking, Enrique Portocarrero hardly seems a dashing character out of a Jules Verne science fiction novel.

But law enforcement officers here have dubbed him "Captain Nemo," after the dark genius of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." They say the 45-year-old has designed and built as many as 20 fiberglass submarines, strange vessels with the look of sea creatures, for drug traffickers to haul cocaine from this area of southern Colombia to Central America and Mexico.

Capping a three-year investigation that involved U.S. and British counter-narcotics agents, Colombia's FBI equivalent, the Department of Administrative Security, arrested Portocarrero last month in the violent port city of Buenaventura, where he allegedly led a double life as a shrimp fisherman.

A day later, they descended on Portocarrero's hidden "shipyard" in a mangrove swamp 20 miles south of here and destroyed two of the vessels, which police say were each capable of carrying 8 tons of cargo.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cap...

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There is a great photo of the "submarine" this guy was using...

[trusty elf]

1. Interesting story

The last paragraph about "fully submersible craft, unmanned with remote guidance capability" having "a lot more agencies than just DEA concerned" was rather unsettling.

[acmavm]

2. Wow! That's innovation. Talk about an entrepreneur.

[Peace Patriot]

3. Gee, why don't they just lead "clean lives," like Bush?

“'Through our Access to Recovery program, addicts receive vouchers they can redeem at treatment centers of their choice, including faith- based centers,' Bush said. 'So far, this program has helped more than 260,000 addicts along the path toward clean lives.'” ("Bush touts successes in fight against drugs," The Hill)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...