Bolivia’s Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN, in Spanish) destroyed more than 8 tons of marijuana and almost 344 kilograms of cocaine in different operations carried out between November and December 2020.
On December 3, agents incinerated 343.8 kg of cocaine in La Paz department, including 276.9 kg of cocaine base paste and 66.9 kg of cocaine hydrochloride, in addition to 3,670 psychotropic pills.
“The [drugs’] final destination is our youth and our children, who will consume these controlled substances in some way,” Bolivian Army Lieutenant Colonel David Gómez Córdoba, head of the FELCN Department in La Paz, said in an interview with the Bolivia TV channel.
“But large quantities of drugs generally go abroad, to countries like Argentina, Peru, and Brazil,” Lt. Col. Córdoba added.
Service members carried out the incineration in the presence of representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Bolivia’s Office of the Attorney General.
The seizure of the cocaine and pills was carried out in six operations, where authorities also arrested six people, causing an economic loss of more than $1 million (according to prices in Bolivia) to criminals, the FELCN reported.
On November 16, as part of the Green Storm Operations Plan, FELCN patrols entered the vicinity of the Monteagudo community, Chuquisaca department. On site, they eradicated a cannabis plantation and destroyed nylon bags containing dried marijuana.
“The operation managed to destroy 8 tons and 640 kg of marijuana in its natural state, plus 10 kg and 464 grams of harvested, dried marijuana [more than 8,650 kg total],” the FELCN reported. Authorities arrested two people.
The force explained that the more than 8 tons of marijuana were of a strong variety called “creepy,” which is sold at higher prices. According to InsightCrime, creepy marijuana has higher levels of the psychoactive agent THC than other varieties.
“While THC concentrations in regular marijuana are in the low single digits, creepy marijuana contains 15 to 25 percent of THC,” InsightCrime reported.
