Minister of Defense, Diego Molano Aponte, proposed to include the anti-laboratory strategy in the new Esmeralda Anti-drug strategy, presented this Thursday at the III International Anti-Drug Congress held in Cartagena.
“I have called the attention on the need for a new Anti-laboratory strategy. Today, these places have become the point where more productivity is added to the drug trafficking chain, where not only productivity but the use of chemicals are gathered and where more value is added to coca; that is why we must fight them,” the Minister said.
The head of the ministry of Defense, explained that the strategy Esmeralda, which seeks to carry out innovative operations in the next few years in the fight against the world drug problem, has three fundamental axes as: the conservation and protection of biodiversity, operations for the preservation of order and the prevention by police with a differential approach”, emphasized Molano.
He in the same way highlighted the importance of the five initiatives of this strategy, such as the intervention on cyber-drug trafficking, the artificial intelligence of chemical substances and judicial control of air traffic of drug.
On the other hand, Minister Molano recognized the results of the Anti-Narcotics Police during this government, where troops have found: “1,010,616 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride, 178,282 kilograms of coca base, 1,062,932 kilograms of marijuana; in addition 8,625 laboratories have been destroyed, 172,506 arrests have been made and the more than 46,000 properties have been occupied.”
He in the same way highlighted the eradication of illicit plantations during 2021, “last year we eradicated 103 thousand hectares of coca; in the three and a half years of President Duque's Government, we have already eradicated more than 388 thousand hectares in a joint effort of our National Police and our National Army with a special group of eradication specialists.”
In the same way, the Minister highlighted the operations that are being carried out by the Military Forces such as the Artemisa Campaign, which has resulted in 13 operations to protect biodiversity, in five National Natural Parks and two forest reserves.
“There are already 22,600 hectares of forest intervened, the reduction of deforestation by 34% in 2021 and the arrest of 15,660 people for environmental crimes,” said the head of the Ministry of Defense.
Finally, the Minister emphasized the importance for this Esmeralda strategy to have a special effort of interagency coordination.
“Today this common purpose requires that we have a multinational struggle and inter-agency coordination with shared responsibility among the agencies, in order to combat this transnational phenomenon of drug trafficking,” Molano said.
Source: Defence Sector Communications Office – Ministry of National Defence
