It would be interesting to know the survival rate of the mariners involved. Do they mostly make it, or is it like serving on a WW2 German u-boat? The craft involved and the descriptions of the passage given to date do not inspire confidence, but then again if they never made it they wouldn't use this method...
It's probably very expensive patrolling waters 1000 nautical miles from your shores.
What incentive does Portuguese authorities have to do this, especially considering the cocaine would've likely just been shipped off to buyers in other parts of the EU and not affect Portugal as much
By Portuguese authorities, not US.
Which is why the title says "seized", and not "torpedoed".