Semi-submarine with more than 2 tons of cocaine seized in Colombia

They arrested a Mexican, an Ecuadorian and a Colombian.

Colombian authorities seized more than two tons of cocaine transported in a semi-submarine that was sailing in the Colombian Pacific and arrested a Mexican, an Ecuadorian and a Colombian, military sources reported Tuesday.

The Navy explained in a statement that the operation was carried out at a time when the device was traveling 35 nautical miles from the sector known as Bocana Amarales, in the department of Nariño, on the border with Ecuador.

The drug, which belonged to a group of FARC dissidents known as the “United Pacific Guerrillas”, would be handed over to cartels in Mexico.

“After several minutes of persecution, the naval device that was destined for the Mexican coast was arrested by the units of the Colombian Navy”, the information is detailed.

The semi-submarine and the cocaine were transferred to the city of Tumaco, in Nariño.

The three detainees were placed under the orders of the authorities for alleged crimes of “traffic, manufacture or possession of drugs and, also, for the construction, marketing and / or possession of semi-submarines or aggravated submarines”.

Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said on Monday that Colombia eradicated more than 98,000 hectares of coca, which already exceeded last year’s total of 94,670 hectares and also pointed out that cocaine seizures have increased. by 13%.

Trujillo also stressed that since October 15, the authorities’ actions have allowed the dismantling of 4,215 laboratories where illicit drugs have been treated.

He also said that in terms of interdiction, cocaine seizures have increased by 13% this year, as 388 tons were seized between January 1 and October 15, compared to the same period in 2019.

In this sense, he assured that marijuana seizures also increased by 38%, going from 310 tons in 2019 to 427 in 2020.