Also this legitimates the tech. Just like porn and VHS, the drug cartels endorse stardink.

"Hi there! I'm José Perez. Between 2025 and 2032, I ran over two thousand tons of cocaine into the United States. And when I needed reliable, high speed Internet access to safeguard my very valuable cargo, I knew that I couldn't settle for the second-best. I used Starlink™. Only Starlink™ gave me the peace of mind that my critical business operations would remain robust in the face of unexpected difficulties, be they hurricanes or US Coast Guard cutters. In today's fast-paced, competitive business world, whether you need a reliable video stream to a conference room in one of your branch offices or to a night-vision piloting camera on a semi-submersible smuggling platform, you can count on Starlink™!"

Some are actually put on display like a trophy by the police or military group that captured it.

Not entirely sure what the policy is for these sorts of things, but I do know various countries Coast Guards and Navies will use abandoned boats, lifeboats, etc. for target practice. It actually serves a couple of purposes, including live fire training. It also ensures the boat will sink, which means other boats won’t spot it, call it in, and cause an unnecessary search & rescue operation all over again for the same vessel. It’s also far safer for the crews to just sink it than it is to tow it. And if they’re busy towing one of these in then it means hours or even days where they can’t be out patrolling and responding to emergencies, etc.

Having said all that I could see them wanting to keep a sub like this since it’s demonstrating a new tactic. Investigators might want to take a close look at how it’s put together. If it wasn’t for that then I could see them just scuttling it after they recovered any drugs (not that there were any in this case).