Updated

Authorities in Guatemala say they have captured a mini submarine carrying an undetermined amount of cocaine off the country's Pacific coast.

The vessel and its crew have been taken to the Guatemalan port of San Jose.

Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Byron Gutierrez said Thursday the vessel was detected by Guatemalan personnel operating jointly with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Several men were captured inside the sub Wednesday about 200 miles off the coast, but Gutierrez offered no further details.

Traffickers use such subs to move multi-ton loads of cocaine to Mexico and Central America. The vessels are believed to carry nearly a third of U.S.-bound cocaine northward through the Pacific.