In a joint operation with the Colombian Army, the Colombian Navy seized nearly 2 tons of cocaine aboard a semisubmersible in the south Pacific coast of Colombia. The drug and the vessel belong to the Alfonso Cano Western Bloc, a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish), the Navy said in a September 1 statement.
Authorities intercepted the semisubmersible loaded with the drug as some individuals were trying to take the vessel out of an area of estuaries in the Nariño department. Upon noticing the presence of authorities, the men jumped in the water and fled into a mangrove area, also leaving behind a speedboat that was apparently escorting them, the statement said.
Units of the 4th Marine Infantry Brigade, with support from a Pacific Surface Flotilla ship and troops of the National Army’s Command against Drug Trafficking and Transnational Threats, carried out the operation, Rear Admiral Orlando Cubillos Chacón, commander of the 72nd Poseidon Task Force against Narcotrafficking, a strategic unit leading the fight against illicit drug trafficking in the Pacific coast of Colombia, told Diálogo. “This is evidence of the coordinated, joint work capabilities of the Military Forces to combat organizations dedicated to narcotrafficking in the Pacific area of Nariño,” the officer said.
In the 17-meter-long semisubmersible, authorities found 90 bags containing 1,872 kilograms of cocaine.
“It is worth noting that, in recent months, the dissident FARC group Alfonso Cano Western Bloc has been hit the hardest, losing more than $200 million due to the seizure of more than 5.8 tons of narcotics, three semisubmersibles, and three speedboats, in addition to the destruction of labs,” Rear Adm. Cubillos said. “This shows that we are using an effective strategy in the fight against narcotrafficking in this region of the country.”
From January 1 to September 10, 2021, according to the 72nd Poseidon Task Force against Narcotrafficking, authorities seized 23 semisubmersibles, 118,590 kg of cocaine, and 41,686 kg of marijuana in the Pacific coast of Colombia. In addition, they destroyed 65 labs for alkaloid processing, 842 hectares of coca crops, 25,708 kg of solid chemical precursors, and 174,087 liters of liquid chemical precursors.
