The Colombian Air Force (FAC, in Spanish) reported on May 26 the seizure of 2.4 metric tons of cocaine with an approximate value of $72 million. The drug was hidden in a network of underground containers in the municipality of Uribia, La Guajira department. The cache, discovered in coordination with [ … ]
Recent News
Rebel Leader Accused of Killing Indigenous People in Colombia, Captured
Colombian President Iván Duque announced on June 23 that authorities captured the leader of a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish), who withdrew from the peace process and is involved in the killing of indigenous people in the country’s southwest. The president congratulated the [ … ]
Armed Forces Disrupt Narcotrafficking Maritime Routes
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s report COVID-19 and the Drug Supply Chain: From Production and Trafficking to Use, the pandemic has greatly affected the methods criminals use to transport their shipments; there is an increase in narcotrafficking by sea, in semisubmersibles and speedboats. “COVID-19 measures [ … ]
Colombian Public Force Seizes about 8 Tons of Drugs in 1 Day
Despite the COVID-19 health crisis, the Colombian Public Force seized about 8 tons of drugs in operations carried out in different parts of the country on June 9. Service members and police agents seized nearly 5 tons of cocaine and 3 tons of marijuana. The Colombian National Police Counternarcotics Directorate [ … ]
US 4th Fleet and Ecuador Navy Plan UNITAS 2020
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet and Ecuadorean maritime planners held a virtual Initial Planning Conference (IPC) July 14-17 in support of the upcoming UNITAS LXI exercise, which will occur in November in Ecuador. Rear Admiral Daniel Ginéz, Ecuadorean Navy Fleet commander, kicked off the planning conference along with [ … ]
US Donates 50 Ventilators to Paraguay to Respond to the COVID-19 pandemic
Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. government made an initial delivery of 50 new, state-of-the-art ventilators to Paraguay to help the country combat COVID-19. The donation is part of a gift from U.S. President Donald Trump of 250 ventilators to support Paraguay in the urgent fight [ … ]
US Contributes $40k of Parts and Equipment to Regional Security System
The U.S. Embassy in Barbados recently furnished the Regional Security System (RSS) with nearly $40,000 worth of maritime equipment and upgrades, to assist in the maintenance and longevity of patrol boats of the RSS Maritime Training Center. The patrol boats are used to train police and coast guard forces throughout [ … ]
Colombia Offers Rewards for the Capture of Assassins of Social Leaders
“The Colombian Security Forces will continue to work to capture those most wanted for the killings of social leaders and former FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] members, in cooperation with citizens,” Colombian Minister of Defense Carlos Holmes Trujillo García told Diálogo. “Our commitment is to confront these criminal structures [ … ]
Colombian Navy Intercepts More Than a Half-Ton of Cocaine in the Pacific
On the night of June 3, units of the Colombian Navy’s Coast Guard Station Buenaventura intercepted a type of go-fast boat speeding in the Pacific along the coast of the Valle del Cauca department. After a 30-minute chase and with the support of the ARC Corvette Nariño and a Colombian [ … ]
Peruvian Armed Forces Destroy 6 Cocaine Labs
Amid the coronavirus crisis, the Peruvian Armed Forces, together with the National Police, destroyed six cocaine laboratories in the Amazon region of Loreto, near the border with Colombia. The interventions, carried out in mid-May as part of operation Jupiter III against narcotrafficking, enabled authorities to seize supplies for drug production, [ … ]
Guatemala Combats Forest Fires Caused by Narcotrafficking
Forest fires caused by organized criminal groups have destroyed thousands of hectares of Guatemalan forest. The fires are concentrated in Petén department, on the border with Belize and Mexico. On July 6, José Cal, a historian and researcher at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala, told Diálogo that the [ … ]
Central American Leaders Analyze Regional Security amid COVID-19 Crisis
Under the theme “Strengthening Partnerships to Confront Regional Challenges in a COVID-19 Environment,” the Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC) 2020 was held virtually for the first time on July 14. “The threats to our neighborhood are becoming more complicated than ever and ever evolving; those threats include the COVID-19 as [ … ]