Drug smuggling

The unmanned submersibles are apparently capable of carrying up to 200kg (441lbs) of cargo.

As part of the 14-month investigation, eight people have been arrested in Cadiz, Malaga, and Barcelona.

Police say it means they have broken up a gang suspected of building the vehicles and supplying them to drug smugglers across Europe.

Spanish police say it is the first time they have discovered an underwater vehicle capable of being operated unmanned.

According to Samoa Police Service, the suspects are currently in police custody for further investigation of the allegations against them.

The Faleatiu village council informed the Police in regards to a rental vehicle they suspected of smuggling drugs, in the duration of their usual village curfew on Tuesday, 20 October 2020.

During the police search, plastic bags suspected of methamphetamine, smoking pipes or utensils and several marijuana plants were found.

The four men from Latvia and Lithuania were intercepted by the French navy off Tonga in July.

The skipper was jailed for seven years and the three others for six years.

The defence asked for their acquittal.

They said they didn't know about the drugs, claiming they were paid just over $US2,000 a month for sailing the yacht for refurbishment in Australia.

According to the Nouvelles Caledoniennes, one of the convicts is an 18 year-old who was encouraged by his father to take the job in order to be able to go abroad for the first time.