Transnational Threats

Paraguay's National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) seized 3.4 tons of marijuana and 1.1 kilograms of cocaine in the city of Pedro Juan Caballero, in the department of Amambay.

Operación MARTILLO, a multinational mission aimed at dismantling international criminal organizations, recorded a major success when the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare offloaded about 2,800 kilograms of cocaine at Base Miami Beach in the U.S. state of Florida on Sept. 4.

The Colombian Army dismantled seven cocaine-producing laboratories and seized nearly 4,000 kilograms of cocaine, while authorities in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica also confiscated significant amounts of drugs.

Mexican security forces have captured Mario Alberto Arce Moreno, the alleged narco-trafficking leader of the Los Zetas Cartel in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.

Drug traffickers are forcibly taking over tribal lands and clear-cutting virgin forest to make clandestine landing strips for drug flights.

Perú seized 7.6 tons of cocaine last week – more than two tons more than initial reports.

Massive seizures of cocaine in Peru and Jamaica and the release on probation of late drug lord Pablo Escobar’s top hit man highlight the last few days of drug-related news.

Criminal attempts to hide cocaine in fishing boats, rice, banking equipment and tamales have proven no match for the vigilance of cooperative counter-narcotics efforts in the last few days.

A major cocaine seizure by Colombian authorities, the arrest of a man claiming to be the son of a Sinaloa Cartel leader, and sanctions against a suspected narco-trafficker highlight regional successes in the counter-narcotics fight this week.

An interview with the Chief of Staff of the Chilean Armed Forces, Rear Admiral José Miguel Romero.