The Colombian Navy, together with Brazilian authorities, strengthened their anti-narcotics operations in border areas, preventing criminal groups from receiving nearly $1.5 million in proceeds from the sale of drugs in Europe.
Thanks to intelligence that the Colombian Navy provided to Brazil, anti-drug authorities raided a house on June 4, 2021, in the Santarem municipality, in the Brazilian state of Pará, where they found 144 kilograms of creepy marijuana buried in a yard, as well as 15 kg of cocaine hydrochloride.
During this operation, authorities captured six men — five of them Colombians — who were turned over to Brazilian judicial authorities in Manaus, Amazonas state.
According to the investigations, the criminals, who belonged to two dissident groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish), moved the drugs along the Putumayo and Caquetá rivers, using them as mobility corridors that enabled communication with areas bordering countries such as Brazil, from where they shipped the drugs by air or sea to Europe and Africa.
As of June 2021, riverine control and intelligence operations coordinated by the Colombian Navy and Brazilian authorities have prevented FARC dissidents from obtaining more than $17 million, due to the seizure of 3,244 kg of creepy marijuana, 15 kg of cocaine hydrochloride, and two fishing vessels, in addition to the capture of 13 criminals — six Brazilians and seven Colombians — who were turned over to Brazilian judicial authorities.