The coordinated operation conducted by troops of Colombian National Army and the Military Forces of Ecuador reaffirms the commitment of both nations to close the drug trafficking routes that finance violence in the Nariño Pacific region.
Within the framework of the Strategic Campaign Plan Ayacucho Plus, troops of the Rainforest Battalion N.° 53, unit a of the Hercules task force, in coordination with the Mobility and Maneuver Battalion N.° 3, the Colombian Aerospace Force, and with the support of the Military Forces of Ecuador, through the Motorized Infantry Battalion N.° 1 and the Esmeraldas Military Intelligence detachment, reported a powerful result of military operations against drug trafficking in the village Vayan Ven, rural area of the municipality of Tumaco, department of Nariño.
During the binational operation, the troops found and destroyed an illegal laboratory for the production of cocaine hydrochloride, which, according to military intelligence information, would belong to the National Coordinating structure of the Bolivarian Army, GAO-r Óliver Sinisterra, with interference in the Colombian-Ecuadorian border area.
It is important to note that, during the soldiers' approach to the target, the soldiers were attacked with a firearm by a group of approximately ten individuals who were guarding the illegal structure. The quick and timely reaction of the troops led to taking control of the situation without damages to the military. The attackers fled aboard boats, crossing into the neighboring country of Ecuador, leaving the laboratory and the material used for the production of cocaine abandoned.
Through this result, the finances of the residual organized armed group were directly hit, preventing it from receiving about 30,000 million pesos as a result of drug trafficking revenues. This heavy blow represents an impact on the illicit activities that sustain criminal activities in the Nariño Pacific region.
To date, the operations carried out by the Hercules Task Force have led to the destruction of 132 laboratories for coca paste base, 5 for cocaine hydrochloride and one for the production of chemical substances, with a loss of more than 67,000 million pesos to the structures that finance the organized armed groups that commit crimes in the region.
Source: Press – National Army
