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Born Burnt

By Born Burnt
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Art Vandelay
Art Vandelay

They say when this sort of thing happens your whole life flashes pasteurize.

SurlyBDR
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Seems orca-strated

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23113

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Posted

damn interesting.  from reddit comments.

 

102 more replies

 
 
level 2
Raekith
 
1.4k points·7 hours ago·edited 4 minutes ago
Gold2Silver2

Shamelessly hijacking the top comment to give some background about what's going on here.

These guys are TACLET, or Tactical Law Enforcement Team. Their primary mission is just like you see it. They're basically the special forces of the Coast Guard (or at least that's what they tell their moms!). What you're seeing is not actually a submarine, but what's referred to as a semi-submersible. It operates similar to a low-profile vessel, where the goal is to disguise the vessel as much as possible in the ocean, not just from boats pulling up alongside, but also from aircraft flying overhead. The semi-submersible is referred to within the CG as the white unicorn, due to its rarity. Not rarity in terms of how many make runs, but rarity in how hard they are to successfully interdict. Often there will be one spotted, and by the time a cutter is able to get on-scene (these guys are launched from one of the larger CG boats, spending weeks to months out at a time hunting these bad guys) the seas will kick up, the overhead asset will have to return to base, or any combination of things will happen and they'll slip through. It's not unheard of for the surface small boat to be within half a mile of one of these, and not be able to find it. They really are that hard to find.

 

So yes, the aggressive pointing, the gung-ho "eff these guys, I'm jumpin on this b!" attitude, it's all from adrenaline at finally catching something that very, very few people can claim to have caught. And they deserve full credit for their ballsy takedowns, because they HAVE to be fast. These semi-submersibles are rigged to be scuttled at a moment's notice, making it incredibly important not just to get onboard fast, but also to get all the smugglers inside out, fast. And even then, it's dangerous to go inside one after these guys get out, because you never know what you'll find. It could literally sink underneath you.

 

Edit: Wow, gilded and everything! Alright! Guess I got some living up to that to do. I'll try to answer some of the bigger questions I've seen.

 

  1. Why the pointing? The person pointing is the Boarding Officer (the person in charge of the boarding). What he is doing is effecting a lawful stop on a vessel on the high seas, which the CG has the authority to do under multiple U.S. statues, most notably 14 USC 89A, if you want to go look it up. Effecting a lawful stop requires several steps. You must order a vessel to heave to (stop). Only then on failure to abide by the order of the boarding officer is the CG allowed to board the vessel. (There's some other legalities involved usually, like trying to determine country of origin, getting their permission to board, seeing if they even claim the boat, etc.). Long story short, he had to make a concerted effort to order the boat to stop in order to legally jump onboard and kick their door in.

  2. Why does the video cut off where it does? Legal reasons. This video is a bodycam being worn by one of the boarding team members. It's being put out there for good press, but the remainder of the video is still very much property of CG legal, and will be used for active prosecution of these smugglers. Hence why it's cut off where it is.

 

If y'all have any more specific questions, feel free to post them and I'll do my best to answer!

 

Edit 2: Big question I've been seeing is why rig it to scuttle? It's simple, and it's also the reason why the boarding team is wearing body cameras: evidence. The goal of these smugglers is to sink the evidence of their smuggling exploits, thereby possibly reducing or even eliminating their charges by turning the boarding into a SOLAS (safety of life at sea) issue rather than one of a lawful interdiction of a drug smuggling vessel. Remember, these guys that are being picked up are small fries in the grand scheme of the smuggling venture. Often times they're paid, blackmailed, or even threatened into it (not just threats to them, but to their family too!). So, they're told to scuttle the vessel if they get stopped, not for their own sakes, but for the sake of the people in charge. Dropping the vessel to the bottom removes evidence first and foremost, but it also removes a lot of extra information that could possibly tie that particular smuggling venture to people, places, or organizations either in the originating country, or the destination country. People would literally kill (and have) to get information about those in charge.

 

Edit 3: Another gilding!? Wow! Alright, let's answer some more questions!

 

  1. How are the guys supposed to know they're being pointed at/told to stop/etc? The answer to that is that it is immaterial to actual prosecution. Your naval "rules of the road" aka COLREGs (or International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea) require that the person driving a vessel, ANY vessel (including these semi-submersibles) maintain situational awareness at all times. This includes maintaining the ability to hear shouted commands from an LEO (law enforcement officer), provided that said LEO gives an honest effort to making themselves heard. Regardless of whether or not these smugglers abide by those regulations, or have even heard of them, they're still bound by them. Thus, it doesn't matter if they can't hear because they're supposed to be TRYING to hear.

  2. Why don't they just sail at night? They do. These vessels don't go very fast. They typically only make between 5-10 knots (nautical miles per hour, which is slightly longer than a regular mile at 6000' vs 5280'). Your typical trip for these vessels is long. Very, very long. Without going into excessive details regarding typical departure and arrival areas, expect trips of anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 miles. Even making the break-neck speed of 10 knots, that's a trip of half a week to over a week, steaming constantly!

  3. What happens when the vessel is scuttled? Well, it sinks. What you're seeing from the very end of the body camera, looking down in the cabin? That's about it. There's not much else to it for livable space. The cargo are packed full to the brim, necessarily so, because the cargo onboard actually acts as ballast for these vessels. They're incredibly unstable once bales start to get removed, usually resulting in a capsize and sinking! It's a dangerous game to remove more than a few bales for evidence! The remainder of the vessel is taken up with the diesel engine and a whole host of fuel. These guys typically subsist on water, snack foods like chips, gatorades, and the like. Typical gamer fuel, all told. Almost always operating in a group of three so one person can be sleeping, one person can be driving, and one person can be awake to pop the scuttling valve if they get the knock of love from above. Do they get out? To the best of my knowledge, none have actually drowned after being interdicted like this, typically because as soon as ANYONE goes in the water, smuggler or crew member, alike, the focus shifts immediately. At the end of the day, the Coast Guard is in the business of saving lives, even if those saved belong to criminals.

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23113

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Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, crash_davis said:

damn interesting.  from reddit comments.

 

102 more replies

 
 
 
level 2
Raekith
 
1.4k points·7 hours ago·edited 4 minutes ago
Gold2Silver2

Shamelessly hijacking the top comment to give some background about what's going on here.

These guys are TACLET, or Tactical Law Enforcement Team. Their primary mission is just like you see it. They're basically the special forces of the Coast Guard (or at least that's what they tell their moms!). What you're seeing is not actually a submarine, but what's referred to as a semi-submersible. It operates similar to a low-profile vessel, where the goal is to disguise the vessel as much as possible in the ocean, not just from boats pulling up alongside, but also from aircraft flying overhead. The semi-submersible is referred to within the CG as the white unicorn, due to its rarity. Not rarity in terms of how many make runs, but rarity in how hard they are to successfully interdict. Often there will be one spotted, and by the time a cutter is able to get on-scene (these guys are launched from one of the larger CG boats, spending weeks to months out at a time hunting these bad guys) the seas will kick up, the overhead asset will have to return to base, or any combination of things will happen and they'll slip through. It's not unheard of for the surface small boat to be within half a mile of one of these, and not be able to find it. They really are that hard to find.

 

So yes, the aggressive pointing, the gung-ho "eff these guys, I'm jumpin on this b!" attitude, it's all from adrenaline at finally catching something that very, very few people can claim to have caught. And they deserve full credit for their ballsy takedowns, because they HAVE to be fast. These semi-submersibles are rigged to be scuttled at a moment's notice, making it incredibly important not just to get onboard fast, but also to get all the smugglers inside out, fast. And even then, it's dangerous to go inside one after these guys get out, because you never know what you'll find. It could literally sink underneath you.

 

Edit: Wow, gilded and everything! Alright! Guess I got some living up to that to do. I'll try to answer some of the bigger questions I've seen.

 

  1. Why the pointing? The person pointing is the Boarding Officer (the person in charge of the boarding). What he is doing is effecting a lawful stop on a vessel on the high seas, which the CG has the authority to do under multiple U.S. statues, most notably 14 USC 89A, if you want to go look it up. Effecting a lawful stop requires several steps. You must order a vessel to heave to (stop). Only then on failure to abide by the order of the boarding officer is the CG allowed to board the vessel. (There's some other legalities involved usually, like trying to determine country of origin, getting their permission to board, seeing if they even claim the boat, etc.). Long story short, he had to make a concerted effort to order the boat to stop in order to legally jump onboard and kick their door in.

  2. Why does the video cut off where it does? Legal reasons. This video is a bodycam being worn by one of the boarding team members. It's being put out there for good press, but the remainder of the video is still very much property of CG legal, and will be used for active prosecution of these smugglers. Hence why it's cut off where it is.

 

If y'all have any more specific questions, feel free to post them and I'll do my best to answer!

 

Edit 2: Big question I've been seeing is why rig it to scuttle? It's simple, and it's also the reason why the boarding team is wearing body cameras: evidence. The goal of these smugglers is to sink the evidence of their smuggling exploits, thereby possibly reducing or even eliminating their charges by turning the boarding into a SOLAS (safety of life at sea) issue rather than one of a lawful interdiction of a drug smuggling vessel. Remember, these guys that are being picked up are small fries in the grand scheme of the smuggling venture. Often times they're paid, blackmailed, or even threatened into it (not just threats to them, but to their family too!). So, they're told to scuttle the vessel if they get stopped, not for their own sakes, but for the sake of the people in charge. Dropping the vessel to the bottom removes evidence first and foremost, but it also removes a lot of extra information that could possibly tie that particular smuggling venture to people, places, or organizations either in the originating country, or the destination country. People would literally kill (and have) to get information about those in charge.

 

Edit 3: Another gilding!? Wow! Alright, let's answer some more questions!

 

  1. How are the guys supposed to know they're being pointed at/told to stop/etc? The answer to that is that it is immaterial to actual prosecution. Your naval "rules of the road" aka COLREGs (or International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea) require that the person driving a vessel, ANY vessel (including these semi-submersibles) maintain situational awareness at all times. This includes maintaining the ability to hear shouted commands from an LEO (law enforcement officer), provided that said LEO gives an honest effort to making themselves heard. Regardless of whether or not these smugglers abide by those regulations, or have even heard of them, they're still bound by them. Thus, it doesn't matter if they can't hear because they're supposed to be TRYING to hear.

  2. Why don't they just sail at night? They do. These vessels don't go very fast. They typically only make between 5-10 knots (nautical miles per hour, which is slightly longer than a regular mile at 6000' vs 5280'). Your typical trip for these vessels is long. Very, very long. Without going into excessive details regarding typical departure and arrival areas, expect trips of anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 miles. Even making the break-neck speed of 10 knots, that's a trip of half a week to over a week, steaming constantly!

  3. What happens when the vessel is scuttled? Well, it sinks. What you're seeing from the very end of the body camera, looking down in the cabin? That's about it. There's not much else to it for livable space. The cargo are packed full to the brim, necessarily so, because the cargo onboard actually acts as ballast for these vessels. They're incredibly unstable once bales start to get removed, usually resulting in a capsize and sinking! It's a dangerous game to remove more than a few bales for evidence! The remainder of the vessel is taken up with the diesel engine and a whole host of fuel. These guys typically subsist on water, snack foods like chips, gatorades, and the like. Typical gamer fuel, all told. Almost always operating in a group of three so one person can be sleeping, one person can be driving, and one person can be awake to pop the scuttling valve if they get the knock of love from above. Do they get out? To the best of my knowledge, none have actually drowned after being interdicted like this, typically because as soon as ANYONE goes in the water, smuggler or crew member, alike, the focus shifts immediately. At the end of the day, the Coast Guard is in the business of saving lives, even if those saved belong to criminals.

last update from the dude.  reddit thread https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/cbw8w8/us_coast_guard_boards_drug_smuggling_submarine/

 

Edit 4: Dang, platinum? Alright, one final question. What happens when they make it? Well, these things are a one-way trip. They're not designed to be refueled, or even unloaded without compromising the vessel's integrity. Nor do the cartels care. One of these things will cost maybe $5 to $10 thousand to build, which is chump change in the end, considering how much contraband they can have on board. Small semi-submersibles like the one on this video may have around 500 to 800 kilograms on board, while larger ones can have upwards of several thousand kilograms! When you're considering that a SMALL load of only 400 kilos will net you almost $9 million, a few grand starts to look like pocket change. So, what happens to the vessel? It gets beached, stripped, and that's the end of it.

 

from the comments.

 

98 points·21 hours ago
 

Coastie friend of mine was in on a couple of these. They had support/been detected by US Navy Attack submarines.

Which would surface usually after for a couple pictures and then go back to patrolling.

His comments on the use of resources were pretty spot on and awesome.

 
 
level 2

I did drug ops on a submarine a few times. They are incredibly boring from our point of view, and the Coasties always get all the credit even though we detected and tracked the drug runners, but it's very cool to see this point of view of the actual apprehension.

We never got to surface and take any pictures though, that sounds cool.

Edited by crash_davis
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