In just one week, the Peruvian National Police (PNP, in Spanish) seized more than 900 kilograms of cocaine and marijuana, in addition to 3 tons of chemical precursors.
On November 28, officers arrested two individuals who were carrying 335 kg of cocaine in brick-type packages. Authorities found the suspects as they drove a vehicle and a motorcycle around Satipo province.
In another operation, on November 26, police officers arrested two traffickers. “[They] were transporting more than 200 kg of marijuana inside a cargo vehicle in the Pucusana district, Lima province,” the PNP said in a statement.
The force also incinerated 250 kg of cocaine found in a clandestine lab near the Llochegua district, Huanta province, on November 24.
“The merchandise likely belongs to a dangerous criminal organization dedicated to international drug trafficking,” the PNP said.
In coordination with the Peruvian Office of the Attorney General, the PNP seized another 120 kg of marijuana near the town of Huanipampa, San Pablo de Pillao district, in Huánuco province.
Although most of the marijuana seized in Peru comes from Paraguay through Bolivia, authorities have detected a growing number of cannabis crops in hard-to-reach Peruvian areas, such as the Sayán district, Huara province.
Peru produces about a fifth of the world’s coca crops. The latest estimates from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime show 49,900 hectares of plantations. About 67 percent of the crops are located in the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers Valley, where agents have intensified anti-drug operations.
The PNP has also strengthened operations against chemical precursors. For example, service members located a clandestine lab in the Santa Rosa district, Lima province, on November 21. “[In that location] they found more than 3,000 kg of chemicals for the production of cocaine hydrochloride, in addition to various equipment and two firearms,” the force reported.
