--- description: The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a homemade submarine and seized a cocaine haul worth at least $181 million off the coast of Mexico. title: Homemade Submarine Busted With $181 Million Worth of Cocaine image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf30b4c58e48f0322/69885e53cd1bbadd426fca02/coast-guard-cocaine.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Coast Guard Busts Homemade Submarine, Seizes $181M Worth of Cocaine by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 7:51 AM CUT  Crew from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton stop a Self-Propelled Semi Submersible off the coast of Central America in this U.S. Coast Guard picture taken July 18, 2015 and released August 5, 2015. Crew from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton stop a Self-Propelled Semi Submersible off the coast of Central America in this U.S. Coast Guard picture taken July 18, 2015 and released August 5, 2015.Petty Officer 2nd Class LaNola Stone—U.S. Coast Guard/Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 7:51 AM CUT The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a homemade submarine and seized a cocaine haul worth at least $181 million off the coast of Mexico, officials said. The bust last month is the biggest of its kind in Coast Guard history. The Coast Guard Cutter Stratton intercepted the 40-foot “self-propelled semi-submersible” in the Pacific Ocean 200 miles south of Mexico on July 18 and arrested four alleged smugglers, officials said. The Guard seized 275 bales of cocaine. “Every interception of these semi-submersibles disrupts transnational organized crime networks and helps increase security and stability in the Western Hemisphere … [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coast-guard-busts-homemade-submarine-seizes-181m-worth-cocaine-n405571?cid=par-time-article%5F20150807 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3988565/u-s-coast-guard-cocaine-bust-submarine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3988565/u-s-coast-guard-cocaine-bust-submarine/"},"headline":"Coast Guard Busts Homemade Submarine, Seizes $181M Worth of Cocaine","datePublished":"2015-08-07T07:51:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:59:38.015Z","description":"The Guard recovered 12,000 pounds of drugs before the vessel sank","url":"https://time.com/3988565/u-s-coast-guard-cocaine-bust-submarine/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf30b4c58e48f0322/69885e53cd1bbadd426fca02/coast-guard-cocaine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf30b4c58e48f0322/69885e53cd1bbadd426fca02/coast-guard-cocaine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Crew from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton stop a Self-Propelled Semi Submersible off the coast of Central America in this U.S. Coast Guard picture taken July 18, 2015 and released August 5, 2015.","caption":"Crew from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton stop a Self-Propelled Semi Submersible off the coast of Central America in this U.S. Coast Guard picture taken July 18, 2015 and released August 5, 2015.","creditText":"Petty Officer 2nd Class LaNola Stone—U.S. Coast Guard/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3988565/u-s-coast-guard-cocaine-bust-submarine/","name":"Coast Guard Busts Homemade Submarine, Seizes $181M Worth of Cocaine"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: Crack Cocaine's Comeback","description":"Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said he will not step down after admitting to smoking crack cocaine Tuesday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xLwdrTNH/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-11-05T22:53:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xLwdrTNH.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3988565/u-s-coast-guard-cocaine-bust-submarine/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3988565/u-s-coast-guard-cocaine-bust-submarine/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```