PrintWe all work in a narco-submarine, narco-submarine...
We can say two things about the drug cartels. First, they are deadly, and second, they are creative in reaching their customers.
Nick Beake, BBC News Europe correspondent, reported on the new submarine fleet carrying drugs to Europe. It is a remarkable story:
I'm about to climb into the first "narco-sub" known to have brought cocaine from South America to Europe.
It's 20 metres (65 ft) long, built out of fibreglass and — remarkably — homemade.
After clambering on top, I lift up the wonky manhole cover and descend into the hull where three men survived for 27 long days and nights, as they voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean just under the surface of the crashing waves.
It's cramped, claustrophobic and incredibly primitive.
The sunlight tries to creep in from faint cracks in the walls. There is a steering wheel, a couple of basic dials and a rusted key still wedged in the ignition.
You can understand why one prospective skipper took one look at the vessel and concluded it was a death trap.
The heat and noise would have been intense as the engine in the back of the sub burned through the 20,000 litres of fuel stored onboard.
The crew of two Ecuadorean cousins and a former Spanish boxer set out from the Brazilian rainforest and first travelled along the Amazon river.
They had energy bars, cans of sardines and plastic bags they used for toilet facilities.
That was about all they had. Apart, of course, from three tonnes of cocaine worth more than $150m (£121m).
Death trap, probably. Profitable trip for sure. After all, how often do a couple of Ecuadorean cousins and a former Spanish boxer get to deliver something worth that kind of money? It reveals why so many people are willing to participate in this business — it's risky but lucrative.
As we try to battle the drug crisis on our border, let's remember that supply will always meet demand.
To remember the Beatles: "In the town where I was born lived a man who sailed to sea..." Yes, the man who sailed to sea to deliver cocaine in a homemade submarine, homemade submarine.
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