I read that a typical load in a narcosub was worth about 100 million dollars and a narcosub itself costs 2 million dollars. Two narcotrips will not only pay for the submarine but also make a huge profit, your idea that smuggling is for those low on the totem pole and that it has to be dangerous is something that you invented.
I think that the future for the drug smuggling is computer controlled submarines, and I'm not even talking about AI. I think drug producers will pre-program a route for a submarine that will autonomously navigate until the destination where it will be picked by a receptor.
I read that it's extremely hard to spot submarines, I can only imagine the kind of things that will be smuggled once there are functional submarines of the size of a big fish.
I don’t know about automated subs though, as three guys in a shitty boat can’t really be beat on price. An automated boat would be easier to catch if it was spotted but I suppose you could also put some trap on it to sink it fast when it’s boarded. We were only able to capture one semi submersible because they are very easy to scuttle.