By: Rajini KG
December 4 2023
No, video does not show Israeli submarine captured by Yemen
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Screenshot of viral video shared online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
This video shows the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro boarding the semi-submersible submarine that was suspected of carrying drugs in 2019.
Claim ID c9d86094
What's being claimed
This video is being shared with claims that Yemen captured an Israeli submarine in November 2023. An X (Formerly Twitter) user shared the video (Archive here) with the caption, "Yemen terrorists have become a hub for Israel. After the Israeli ship, Yemen has also captured an Israeli submarine (Translated from Hindi)." The video shows boats moving alongside the submarine in the ocean and two guards boarding the submarine.
Screenshot of viral video shared online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, the video is old and shows U.S. Coast Guard members seizing a submarine that is smuggling drugs. It is not an Israeli submarine.
Here are the facts
A Google reverse image search led us to the Facebook account of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which posted the now-viral video on July 11, 2019. The original video was captioned: "U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro crew members board a self-propelled semi-submersible suspected drug smuggling vessel (SPSS) June 18, 2019, while operating in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean." The coastguard can be seen boarding the submarine in the video.
Screenshot of the Facebook post of U.S. Southern Command. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
The First Army, an American military news website, also posted the viral video on July 11, 2019. It was titled: "U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro crew interdicts suspected drug smuggling vessel."
The description states that U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) crew members boarded a suspected drug smuggling vessel on June 18, 2019, in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
According to the Washinton Post, on June 18, 2019, U.S. Coast Guards discovered suspected "narco-submarines" off the coasts of Ecuador and Colombia. Coast Guard officials arrived in boats and a helicopter and surrounded the ship. They seized almost 17,000 pounds of cocaine, estimated to be worth $232 million. In connection with this case, three individuals from Colombia were sent to federal prison for smuggling in December 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice reports.
Therefore, it confirms that the video is from 2019, not from 2023, and does not show an Israeli submarine captured by Yemen.
The verdict
A video of U.S. Coast Guards capturing a semi-submersible submarine that was smuggling drugs in 2019 has been misattributed as Yemen fighters seizing an Israeli submarine. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.