From April to June 2021, the Panamanian National Border Service (SENAFRONT, in Spanish) carried out the two largest drug seizures in its history, with almost 5,000 kilograms of drugs seized (marijuana and cocaine), Commissioner Oriel Ortega Benítez, SENAFRONT general director, told Diálogo. SENAFRONT’s Special Boat Unit (UBE, in Spanish) carried [ … ]
Transnational Threats
Brazilian Federal Police Incinerates More than 10 Tons of Drugs
On June 25, 2021, agents of the Brazilian Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) carried out a major operation to incinerate more than 10 tons of narcotics in the municipality of Mundo Novo, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS). In early 2021, the PF had already destroyed more [ … ]
Bolivia Eradicates More than 2,000 Hectares of Coca Crops in 3 Months
Bolivian security forces eradicated more than 2,000 hectares of coca crops between April and June 2021. “The total eradicated to date is 2,386 hectares,” Bolivian Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances Jaime Mamani said in an interview with Primer Plano, a TV show airing on Bolivia TV channel, [ … ]
Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing in the Pacific
KOROR, Palau – Task Force Oceania’s Pacific augmentation teams recently completed their first rotational tours providing continuous support to Pacific island countries in Oceania demonstrating U.S. Army Pacific and U.S. IndoPacific Command’s commitment to our allies and partners in the region. And while the U.S. Department of Defense is committed [ … ]
Colombia, Ecuador Committed to the Fight against Transnational Crime
Colombia and Ecuador agreed to strengthen cooperation between their armed forces for a greater impact in the fight against transnational crime, especially on the border. So said Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano Aponte and Ecuadorian Minister of Defense Admiral Fernando Donoso Morán during a binational meeting in Ipiales, Nariño department, [ … ]
Dominican Republic Seizes 2 Tons of Cocaine, Raids 12 Narcotrafficking Properties
The Dominican Republic disrupted organized crime and narcotrafficking networks in June. In different operations, authorities seized 2,009 kilograms of cocaine and carried out a series of house searches. On June 26, 2021, the Dominican National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD, in Spanish) reported the seizure of 173 kg of cocaine in [ … ]
Honduras: More Than 11 Tons of Cocaine Seized in the First Half-Year
Honduran security forces dealt a harsh blow to narcotrafficking in the first half of 2021, seizing more than 11,000 kilograms of cocaine and destroying hundreds of thousands of coca plants. From January 1 to July 1, the operations carried out in Honduran territory resulted in the seizure of three times [ … ]
Paraguayan Anti-Drug Agents Seize More than 18 Tons of Marijuana
In the last two weeks of June, the Paraguayan National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD, in Spanish) dismantled seven drug camps used for marijuana production in Amambay and Caaguazú departments, on the border with Brazil. During the operations, agents found more than 18 tons of the drug. According to a July 5 [ … ]
Argentine Gendarmerie Seizes More than 4 Tons of Marijuana
On June 21, the Argentine National Gendarmerie (GNA, in Spanish) seized more than 4 tons of marijuana in Misiones province, on the border with Paraguay. Authorities found the marijuana during border control and surveillance operations, the GNA reported in several statements. During the first operation, a patrol of gendarmes located [ … ]
Chilean Police Seizes More than 3 Tons of Drugs
Chile’s Investigations Police (PDI, in Spanish) seized more than 3 tons of drugs during Operation New Era (Operación Nueva Era) in the Santiago Metropolitan region, Sergio Muñoz, PDI general director, and Rodrigo Delgado, Chilean minister of the Interior, said at a press conference on June 22. With this seizure, the [ … ]
Panama Seizes 2.7 Tons of Drugs in Maritime Interdictions
Agents of the Panamanian National Air and Naval Service (SENAN, in Spanish) and Panama’s Regional Center for Aeronaval Operations seized 2,794 kilograms of drugs in different interdictions carried out along the coasts and in waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The seizures took place from June 14 to July [ … ]
Global Support for Cuba Demonstrations
World leaders are expressing their support for the Cuban people after demonstrations broke across the island on July 11. Foreign Minister for the European Union (EU) Josep Borrell urged the Cuban government “to listen to these protests of discontent” during a press conference July 12 in Brussels after meeting with [ … ]