On Wednesday, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces seized a 'narcosubmarine' allegedly intended to transport large quantities of cocaine to North or Central America, as reported by the Joint Command in a press release. In the area known as El Pindal, in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas, the military also found a clandestine workshop for manufacturing these semi-submersibles. They engaged in an armed confrontation with the people apparently working there, with no casualties among the uniformed personnel. The vessel, 35 meters long, has similar characteristics to others previously captured in the area by the military. It is a fiberglass vessel that has been cut at the waterline to sail as stealthily as possible, with no elements protruding above the surface. These types of vessels usually have a compartment in the stern area for two or three crew members who remain inside the vessel, controlling the rudder and engines, with a small hatch to observe the outside. At the seizure site, Ecuadorian military personnel also found six fiberglass boats, approximately 6,000 gallons of fuel, seven outboard motors, a shotgun, and navigation equipment, among other items. In recent years, Ecuador has become a key hub in international cocaine trafficking routes, which has fueled an unprecedented crisis of criminal violence in the country between criminal gangs that act as a link between drugs, mainly produced in Colombia, and the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.