SUBMARINE, HOMEMADE AND COCAINE-LADEN, IS SEIZED OFF MEXICO

MEXICO CITY -- The nation's drug wars sank to new depths Wednesday as
the Mexican navy announced it had seized a submarine that was
transporting cocaine off the southern coast.

The navy intercepted the 33-foot vessel about 125 miles south of
Puerto de Salina Cruz in Oaxaca state.

Jose Luis Vergara, a navy spokesman, said in a radio interview that
special forces waited until the vessel surfaced before rappelling
from helicopters and overpowering the four-man crew.

Vergara called the submarine bust unprecedented for the navy.

"There were a lot of packages," he said. "It appears to be cocaine."

The navy provided no information on the identities or nationalities
of the suspects.

Colombian authorities have captured more than a dozen such vessels
over the last couple of years.

Law enforcement experts say the homemade subs are becoming ever more
sophisticated.

Meanwhile, Mexico's drug wars claimed another high-ranking law
enforcement official.

Salomon Diaz, a Sinaloa state police commander, was shot dead by
suspected drug gang hit men in the troubled western state, where more
than 300 people have died in drug-related violence this year.