- The fight against drug trafficking does not stop in Colombia. During 2022, the Military Forces and the National Police found 671 tons of cocaine, a number higher than those reported in the history of the country.
- Coca base and bazuco findings in the same way increased in 2022, while marijuana kept pace with 2021.
Following instructions from President Gustavo Petro, the military Forces and the National Police have focused their efforts in the fight against drugs on the tasks of finding and prosecuting the big kingpins and their richness.
This is how, in 2022, 671 tons of cocaine were found by troops, becoming the highest figure in the history of Colombia since searches are carried out beginning in 2010. Accounts by departments report Nariño (80 tons), Bolívar (48.7 Tons) and Valle del Cauca (43.7 Tons), which are the departments of Colombia that show the highest number of tons found.
This record figure of 2022 exceeded by more than one and a half tons the findings in 2021, (669,340 kilograms). It is worth noting that in 2020 the findings reached 505 tons, while in 2019 they were 428 tons.
“It is necessary to combat the illicit income from drug trafficking which generates the evils in our country, the Military Forces use intelligence and increase the detection and interception to achieve great results in terms of destruction of substances such as cocaine, marijuana, liquid and solid supplies, among others,” says Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez.
In 2022, it was in the same way possible to find 87.3 tons of coca base, which is 17 percent more than what was reported in 2021, when 74.5 tons were found by troops for subsequent destruction. The departments that show more operations are Cauca (14.5 Tons), Putumayo (12.7 Tons) and Chocó department (11.9 Tons).
As for marijuana, the 2022 finds reported a similar figure to 2021, with 484 tons found and destroyed. While bazuco (Crack) findings increased 12.7% in 2022 compared to 2021, exceeding one and a half tons of drug.
The number of gallons of liquid precursors for the production of illicit drugs found in the same way increased, since 12,084,676 gallons were found by troops in 2022, while in 2021 there were 11,100,766 gallons, with a difference of 8.9%.
These overwhelming results of the men and women of the Military Forces were not only given in 2022, this year has in the same way seen the commitment of the forces in the fight against drugs.
For example, just this week, the Colombian Navy intercepted the first semi-submarine of the year in Pacific waters, finding four tons of cocaine. This is how, during the first month of the year, the Colombian Navy has found about 10 tons of cocaine.
Source: Defense Sector Communications Office - Ministry of National Defense
