In the course of military operations carried out in the Catatumbo region, troops of the National Army, jointly, coordinated and inter-agency with the Colombian Air Force, the National Police and the Attorney General's Office found in the last few hours, in rural hamlets Los Cuervos and Las Barrancas, Municipality of Tibú, in Norte de Santander, six laboratories for the production of illicit substances, with a monthly production capacity of five tons of cocaine hydrochloride belonging to the organized armed group, GAO-r, 33.
Inside these illicit structures troops found one and a half tons of cocaine hydrochloride, 1,100 kilograms of caustic soda, 470 kilograms of coca base paste, 200 kilograms of chopped coca leaf; 4,900 gallons of acetone, 3,350 gallons of gasoline and 470 gallons of sulfuric acid. In addition, four Martians (artisanal distillers), three 15 worms (home-made filters), 44 propane gas cylinders, 66 Erlenmeyer containers, four electricity generators, 15 microwave ovens and five electric pumps were found.
This coca-growing complex would cost about 8,800 million pesos, an important economic figure that heavily hits the financial structures of the organized armed group GAO-R 33.
This month, the drug trafficking Brigade no.1, and the Vulcano Task Force have managed to find in the Department of Norte de Santander 13 laboratories for the production of illicit substances, costing more than 13 billion pesos.
