For years, authorities say Enrique Portocarrero led a double life as shrimp fisherman and submarine designer in the Pacific coast of Colombia, until he was arrested last month. Law enforcement officers have dubbed him "Captain Nemo," after the dark genius of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, claiming the 45-year-old has designed and built as many as 20 fiberglass submarines for drug traffickers to haul cocaine from southern Colombia to Central America and Mexico. In the last two years, the number of "narco-vessels" used by drug traffickers to evade detection has soared; 15 have been seized or destroyed. Portocarrero's boats were outfitted with complex ballast, communications, and power systems.
Read it at The Los Angeles Times
