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Service members from the Brazilian Navy (MB, in Portuguese), Brazilian Army (EB, in Portuguese) and Brazilian Air Force (FAB, in Portuguese) are working in support of the state of emergency due to heavy rains that have been plaguing the south of Bahia state, in the country’s northeast region. More than 70,000 people have been displaced, 29,000 are homeless, and 26…
The United States, through U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), donated 20 M1117 armored security vehicles (ASVs) to Colombia, the first of a total of 145 that will be delivered in the first half of 2022. The vehicles, set to join the Colombian Army’s fleet, will contribute to strengthening national security and defense, the Colombian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.…
Following the capture of alias Otoniel, Colombia’s most wanted narcotrafficker and former leader of the Clan del Golfo, in late October 2021, authorities closed in on the criminal group. In an eight-day operation carried out in the first half of November, the Colombian Police, Army, and Office of the Attorney General arrested 90 people suspected of involvement with the criminal…
Among the top threats for 2022 are cyberterrorism, cyber blackmail, cyber kidnapping, data breaches, and theft of electronic wallets and cryptocurrencies, according to the report 2022 Security Predictions, published by the cybersecurity firm DigiCert. “Cyberattacks not only affect critical health, transportation, or water infrastructure, they can also affect the supply chain of common products. They all have a common denominator:…
On December 7, 2021, Colombian authorities detained 11 members of a narcotrafficking ring connected to the Clan del Golfo. The criminals were in charge of coordinating the transport of cocaine from the coasts of the Chocó department to Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, the Colombian Office of the Attorney General reported on its website. “This illegal network contacted boatmen and…
Panamanian authorities captured 56 people on charges of associating with the Clan del Golfo international criminal network, one of Colombia’s leading narcotrafficking organizations. According to the DW news site, the Clan del Golfo has a presence in 28 countries, with Panama as a gateway for Central American narcotrafficking. Among those detained are Panamanians and foreigners who, according to the Panamanian…
A November 23 joint operation by the Colombian Military Forces and the Office of the Attorney General resulted in the largest drug seizure of 2021 in a single operation: nearly 10 tons of cocaine ready for packaging and more than 10 tons of cocaine in the powder processing phase. “With these seizures, we are preventing more than 25 million doses…
Between November 23 and 26, 2021, Brasília hosted one of the largest and most important Defense and Security fairs in Latin America, the Conference on Military Systems and Technology (CSTM, in Portuguese). In its 10th edition, CSTM brought together military and government officials, as well as investors, diplomats, scholars, and systems operators in the private sector. Brazilian Defense Minister Walter…
Ecuadorian security forces seized 7,148 kilograms of cocaine in 10 operations carried out November 21–December 2, 2021. On December 2, the Ecuadorian Police reported the seizure of 245 kg of cocaine in two containers bound for Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. That same day, officers reported seizing 133 kg of cocaine in a container with bananas, in the Port of Guayaquil, Guayas…
The Panamanian National Air and Naval Service (SENAN, in Spanish) continues to deal a tough blow to narcotrafficking. From November 13 to December 4, 2021, the naval institution seized more than 10 tons of cocaine in various operations. “November was a month in which there was an increase in seizures,” Commissioner Luis De Gracia, head of SENAN’s 2nd Aeronaval Region,…
On September 11, 2001, then US President George W. Bush had just completed a historic summit with his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, the week prior. The interaction built on the “special friendship” between the two nations and the intertwined commercial, security, and other strategic interests binding the United States and Mexico.1 This relationship had deepened considerably in the seven years…
In mid-October, the Colombian Navy led a riverine operation, with the support of the Colombian Army and Air Force, in which they managed to locate and destroy a mega-lab with the capacity to produce more than 3,000 kilograms of cocaine per month. The complex, found in the Tumaco municipality, in Nariño department, consisted of 14 structures that likely belong to…
