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(CNN) - The authorities in the Spanish region of Galicia confiscated a semi-submersible submarine that transported more than 3,000 kilograms of cocaine on Sunday.
The drugs are believed to have come from Colombia, but authorities are still investigating, according to a Civil Guard spokesman, a military agency with police powers.
The ship was captured on Sunday off the coast of the port of Aldán. Two of the three crew members operating the 22-meter long boat were arrested.
Both are Ecuadorian citizens, according to the Civil Guard spokesman, who said authorities are looking for the third member of the crew.
"We are working to remove the submarine from the water to verify everything properly," he added.
The submarine was detected as a result of an "international operation" that involved the Spanish Customs, the Spanish National Police and the Civil Guard.
LOOK : They find suspected drug traffickers floating among packages of cocaine
Drug traffickers have been captured using submarines to transport cocaine to the United States, even twice this year, once in June and once in September.
Lieutenant Commander of the Coast Guard Stephen Brickey told CNN earlier this year that drug cartels in Central and South America have increasingly used semi-submersible submarines to transport drugs to the United States.
However, boats are not believed to be so common in Europe. They are expensive to build and must be built in remote areas such as the jungle to avoid detection.
READ : The United States Coast Guard captures a "narcosubmarine" with $ 165 million in cocaine
Once in the water, they are difficult to detect without any previous intelligence or aircraft that detects them from above, Brickey said.
"They camouflage," he said. "Most of the ship is underwater, so it is difficult to distinguish it."
Leah Asmelash and Brian Ries of CNN contributed to this report.
Cocaine