Maritime drug-smuggling operations can involve coordinating with a ship's crew to conceal cocaine in shipping containers and transferring the drugs from speedboats to commercial cargo vessels.
November 17, 2025
high
method
Describes commonly reported tactics used in large-scale maritime cocaine trafficking.
Drug traffickers use submersible or semi-submersible vessels to transport narcotics along maritime transit routes toward the United States.
October 18, 2025
high
general
Enduring smuggling tactic observed in maritime narcotics trafficking.
Drug trafficking organizations sometimes use semi-submersible and submersible vessels to transport illicit drugs via maritime routes.
October 17, 2025
high
descriptive
Semi-submersible and submersible boats have been documented as a method for moving narcotics across bodies of water.
The ore vessel Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior during a storm in November 1975.
November 01, 1975
high
temporal
Maritime disaster involving a Great Lakes ore carrier.
All 29 men aboard the ore vessel Edmund Fitzgerald died when the ship sank in November 1975.
November 01, 1975
high
temporal
Fatality count from the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking.