In the course of joint, coordinated and inter-institutional operations conducted by the Colombian Navy, the National Army, the Colombian Air Force, the National Police and the Attorney General's Office, it was possible to find and subsequently destroy 24 illegal infrastructures used by Farc dissidents for the production of coca base paste in the departments of Caquetá, Guaviare and Meta; in addition it was possible to arrest seven people for crimes related to drug trafficking.
Guided by intelligence information, units attached to the Navy Brigade No.3 of the Colombian Navy, found and dismantled the laboratories that had the capacity to produce 1,215 kilograms per month of coca base paste, the main precursor for obtaining cocaine hydrochloride. In addition they arrested in flagrante delicto seven individuals who were inside these complexes carrying out illicit drug production activities. They are allegedly part of the support networks of the organized armed groups that commit crimes in this region of the country.
During the operations were found by troops 2,642 kilograms of solid precursors, 3,659 gallons of liquid precursors, 1,487 kilograms of chopped coca leaf, in addition to equipment, machinery and other elements used for the manufacture of the narcotic. The structures along with the materials were destroyed under controlled conditions, while those arrested were put into custody of the authorities for the crimes of bearing, trafficking and manufacture of narcotic drugs.
These laboratories for the production of coca base paste are the main source of income for residual Organized Armed Groups. The precursor destroyed is essential for the manufacture of cocaine, whose crystallization leads to more than a ton of cocaine hydrochloride a month, to be marketed in the european countries; it represents an income of about USD$ 60 million. It should be noted that the illegal construction of this type of rudimentary structures, hits the environmental resources and biodiversity of the territory where they are built.
Source: press-Colombian Navy
