Belizean Coast Guard crews have recovered a small, unflagged vessel of Colombian design drifting in northern Ambergris Caye waters. The suspicions are that it was abandoned after involvement in illicit narcotics or fuel‑resupply operations.
Earlier this year, Coast Guard officers interdicted a man possessing a kilo of cocaine near Turneffe Atoll but found no sunken or wrecked vessel nearby.
In September 2024, crews near Deer Caye recovered packages of cannabis. Meanwhile, Belize’s maritime territory has increasingly become a transit zone for Colombian drug shipments, often concealed in vessels drifting offshore.
The current find closely mirrors previous cases of semi‑submersible “narco‑subs” and fast boats used to evade detection in Colombia. This is a trend that intensified alongside Colombian cartels’ evolving tactics in Pacific narcotics routes.