Colombia and Venezuela work together to fight FARC and drug traffickers

By Dialogo
October 13, 2010

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín and her
Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro recently met to discuss strengthening their
countries’ relationship, improving border security and their fight against the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Colombian Minister of Defense, Rodrigo Rivera, who also participated in the
meeting, said communication between the countries’ militaries is integral to
achieving better results against narcotics traffickers and armed groups.
“This is the main goal of the relations with Colombia,” Maduro said,
according to the Colombian website Caracol.com.co.

Nicaragua: Navy arrests six suspected Honduran narcotics traffickers


BLUEFIELDS, Nicaragua – The navy apprehended six alleged Honduran
narcotics traffickers as they were crossing a river in the southern part of the
country along the Caribbean coast, officials said.
The alleged narcotics traffickers were suspected of using two go-fast boats
to transport 2.5 tons of drugs, Navy Captain Juan Gutiérrez said at a media
conference, according to the Honduran daily La Prensa.
The suspects, who allegedly were found in possession of six firearms, told
officials they were working on agricultural and construction projects in the region,
according to La Prensa.

Peru: Soldier, suspected guerrilla die in gunfight


LIMA, Peru – An army captain and an alleged guerrilla were killed in a
gunfight in the department of Junín, according to the Armed Forces Joint Command.
Capt. Illich Montesinos, a member of the 22nd Engineering Brigade, was killed
in a firefight along with an unidentified “narco-terrorist,” according to the
command. The gunfight occurred when an army patrol found a Shining Path unit in
Rondayacu, an area in the department of Junín, which is in the Valley of the
Apurímac and Ene rivers (VRAE) region, according to EFE.

The command said suspected guerrillas could have been injured in the fight
since soldiers found blood trails.
The government has offered a reward of $1 million soles (US$358,000) for
information leading to the arrest of the guerrilla group’s high-ranking leaders.

Brazil: Police dismantle international organization of suspected drug
traffickers


SÃO PAULO, Brazil – The Federal Police seized 82 kilograms (181 pounds)
of cocaine and arrested 10 suspected members of a narcotics trafficking organization
that had a presence in the country’s southern region.
The police conducted operations simultaneously in cities that included
Gravataí and Gramado, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and Ponta Porã, Dourados,
Três Lagoas and Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso do Sul.
The suspected traffickers, who officials said also did business in São Paulo
and Paraná, are being held in the central prison of Porto Alegre and prisons in Mato
Grosso do Sul, according to the Brazilian website Estadao.com.br.

Venezuela: Bolivarian National Guard seizes more than 800 kilograms of
marijuana


CARACAS, Venezuela – The Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has seized
more than 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds) of marijuana in the state of Táchira, Gen.
Franklin Márquez said.
The seizure occurred at a checkpoint in the western part of the country,
where 21- and 23-year-old Venezuelan brothers were taken into custody by the
military and handed to authorities, Márquez said, according to the Venezuelan
website Noticias24.com.
The brothers said they were offered several thousand dollars to smuggle the
drug from Colombia to Venezuela, Márquez said, according to the Venezuelan website
El Nacional.com.
Venezuelan officials said they have confiscated more than 50 tons of drugs
this year.

Panama: Military kills Colombian narcotics trafficker


PANAMA CITY, Panama –The Naval Air Service has killed a Colombian drug
trafficker and apprehended two other suspected narcotics dealers during a gunfight
in the waters near the Bahía Piña naval air station this past weekend, an official
said.
One of the Colombians wounded has been identified as Héctor Hurtado, who was
shot in the left leg, naval air service spokesman Vladimir Rodríguez wrote in an
email.
Hurtado and the two other men exchanged fire with personnel aboard a naval
air service speedboat and a patrol boat, Rodríguez said.
The Colombians were carrying an unknown quantity of narcotics on the boat and
threw “some bales of suspected drugs overboard when they saw that they were being
chased,” Rodríguez said.