In the framework of the II Ministerial Summit in Colombia with the Caribbean States, the head of the ministry of Defence, Diego Molano Aponte, invited the countries that make up the organization, to increase international cooperation, with the aim of strengthening the means and Resources in the fields of defence and security, and highlighted the Resources and the operations carried out by the Military Forces and the National Police, to face transnational crime.
“In the Caribbean we share common threats such as drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and an illegal exploitation of natural resources and degradation of ecosystems,” Minister Molano explained at the II Colombia-Caricom Ministerial Summit.
International cooperation is an effective element to strengthen the means and Resources of each country, which is why he highlighted the importance of the Defense Sector participating in this diplomatic activity that takes place in the capital city of the department of Atlantico.
“We want to share with the member states of the Caribbean (CARICOM) good practices, lessons learned and operations that led us to face common threats,” said Minister Molano.
He in the same way highlighted the achievements made by the Colombian Military Forces, through the Orion Naval Campaign (led by the National Navy), the Zeus Air interception Strategy (led by the Colombian Air Force) and the Artemisa Campaign focused on the environment and the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Within the scope of the regional initiative the Naval Campaign Orion, Molano highlighted that, thanks to this effort of cooperation and exchange of information from different countries, Colombia managed to find in 2021 about 200 tons of cocaine, thus harming transnational criminal organizations of drug trafficking.
On the other hand, the minister of Defense explained that the Strategy Zeus has been optimizing the operational capacity in operations to be conducted in the frame of air interception, georeferencing of illegal tracks, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, recognition, and tracking of air targets, collection of evidence for regional prosecution and dismantling of criminal organizations.
In this international meeting were in the same way explained the achievements of the Campaign Artemisa, whose primary mission is to prevent deforestation and stop those who commit environmental crimes, as well as attacking the illicit extraction of minerals that hit and pollutes our rivers,” said the Minister of Defense, at the time he revealed that the National Government decided to extend the mandate [coverage] of Artemisa, to become a continuous effort for the protection of the oceans and their biodiversity in the entire national territory.
“We have one of the most strengthened police corps in the region. It is versatile because it not only fights drug trafficking, but in the same way makes special operations for citizen security,” said Minister Molano when highlighting the resources of the National Police, which has been working in regional cooperation on issues of relations with the community, citizen security, fight against drug trafficking, prevention and monitoring of cybercrimes and good practices in police human talent.
Minister Molano talked about the products to be provided by three of the industrial companies of the Social and Business Group of Defense (GSED), such as the manufacture of weapons by Indumil, the construction of ships in the Cotecmar shipyard, and the Remotely Manned Aircraft by CIAC.
Finally, the chief of Defense said that the Colombian Military Forces seek to continue being the regional reference in the fight against transnational crimes and organized crime, exporting knowledge and experiences, as well as good practices by the Military Forces and the National Police.
Source: Defence Sector Communications Office – Ministry of National Defence
