This is the moment Colombian sailors had to rescue three drug smugglers as they caught them carrying over three tonnes of cocaine on a sinking narco-submarine.

Images from the Colombian Navy show sailors offloading hundreds of packages containing the drugs off a dark semi-submersible vessel travelling across the Pacific on the night of May 12.

Military personnel reportedly recovered a total of 102 packages containing 3,058 kilogrammes (6740 lbs) of cocaine.

The drugs were allegedly headed to Central America, one of the most used routes for illegal trafficking to the United States, the world's main consumer of Colombian cocaine.

Three Colombian nationals were apprehended after sailors had to save them from the vessel that had begun sinking.

Afterwards, sailors reportedly tried several manoeuvres to refloat the semi-submersible but without success. It was then deliberately sunk to prevent navigational hazards in the area.

The three crew members, aged 63, 54 and 45, reportedly claimed a drug gang had forced them to smuggle the cocaine to Central America.

They were handed over to local police after they were transferred to the Colombian port city of Tumaco along with the illegal cache.

The three captured men can be seen standing in the middle of hundreds of packages of narcotics camouflaged with Toyota labels after they were brought to the mainland.

According to the Navy's calculations, the seizure meant a USD-103 million (GBP-82 million) blow to the criminal organisation.

The 100-ft long semi-submersible device being used to transport the drugs was reportedly the largest illegal vessel of its kind to be seized in the country.

Made in Colombia, these rustic and light boats travel along the surface of the water, cover longer distances than speedboats and are difficult for authorities to track.

The Colombian Navy said in a statement: 'It is worth recalling that the Colombian Navy discovered the first semi-submersible-type craft in 1993 on Providencia Island.

'Subsequently, in 1994 and 1995, one case was detected each year in the Colombian Caribbean.

'In 2009, with the impetus of the Colombian Navy, Law 1311 was approved, which classifies the use, construction, commercialisation, possession, and transportation of semi-submersibles or submersibles as a criminal offense punishable by 6 to 14 years in prison.

'From 1993 to date, the Colombian Navy has intercepted and seized 228 illegal semi-submersible and submersible-type craft.'