MEXICO CITY, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The air force of Guatemala and the U.S. Navy had detained a submarine with a load of 10 tons of cocaine, local media reported on Thursday.

    The submarine, directed by three Colombian and one Mexican citizens, was detained on Wednesday at some 180 nautical miles (around 330 kilometers) off Puerto Quetzal in the southern department of Escuintla, the Guatemalan Interior Ministry said.

    The commercial value of the cocaine was at 1 billion quetzals (some 120 million U.S. dollars). This has been the first detention of a submarine loaded with drugs in Guatemalan territory.

    Guatemalan ships from the Naval Base of the Pacific saw the submarine and requested backup from the U.S. Navy and the Guatemalan air force, the ministry said.

    Guatemalan authorities said the submarine aimed to arrive in Guatemala and then in Mexico and the United States would be its final destination.