The Colombian National Army recently conducted a series of successful operations against coca plantations run by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The Colombian National Army recently conducted a series of successful operations against coca plantations run by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The eradication efforts have inflicted significant damage on the finances of the terrorist group, which uses revenue generated by its drug production and trafficking operations to purchase weapons for terrorist attacks on the civilian population and on security forces. According to the World Drug Report 2014 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Colombian security forces have reduced coca leaf production in the country by 25 percent.
They accomplished this by targeting key regions throughout the country. For example, on October 26, troops destroyed a nursery in the Miraflores district, in the Department of Guaviare. The plantation, which contained 674,000 coca plants, belonged to the FARC’s Urias Cuéllar Front.
And a little more than a month before the operations in Guaviare, Army troops with the elite Rapid Deployment Force (FUDRA) eradicated an illegal coca leaf plantation in the Department of Meta. Revenue generated by the six-hectare plantation provided funds for the FARC’s Eastern Bloc. Military surveillance of the area helped security forces locate the Villa Hermosa coca leaf plantation.
Between January 1 and late October, FUDRA forces have destroyed 264 hectares of illegal plantations in Vista Hermosa, Uribe, Mesetas and La Macarena districts. During that time FUDRA soldiers also seized more than 8,000 gallons of liquid ingredients that FARC operatives were going to use to process cocaine alkaloid and produce cocaine.
At the same time it is eradicating coca plantations, the Army is encouraging farmers – some of whom cultivate coca for the FARC – to grow legal crops, such as cocoa beans, corn, tobacco and bananas –which they can sell legally. For example, soldiers in the Fourth Division are helping farmers in the Guaviare and Vaupés grow vegetables. The Army forges ahead with its eradication campaign while at the same time instructing local farmers on other ways of generating income through other cultivation options. An example of this were the actions of the Thirty First Jungle Brigade, part of the Fourth Division, working with farmers of the Guaviare and Vaupés areas, according to an army press release.
Impact on FARC’s finances
The military’s successful eradication operations have greatly disrupted the FARC’s usual revenue stream. Consequently, the terrorist group is turning to other illegal methods of raising funds.
“The FARC are not only involved in providing protection services to criminals organizations that dedicate themselves to drug trafficking, in many cases they are directly involved in illegal mining,” according to Jairo Libreros, a security analyst at the Externado University of Colombia. “They obtain machinery, assign personnel, and carry out all of the mining extraction process, the refinement, the negotiation, the sale and the exportation.”
The FARC also generates income from extortion and kidnapping. Its leaders have denied the organization engages in drug trafficking, but the eradication operations of the Army show those denials are untrue.
“The FARC have insisted at various times that they are not involved in the drug world, and that any involvement they might have had has been for exceptional reasons,” Libreros said. “They don’t accept that they are involved in drug trafficking in an organic or institutional way, but it has happened. Part of their policy is to deny it, even though their drugs are confiscated.”
The Army and other Colombian security forces remain vigilant in the fight against drug trafficking and production by the FARC.
“Security forces will continue to maintain increasing pressure and intelligence activities and military operations in the different areas of the country in the fight against drug trafficking,” Libreros said. “Military forces have not only recovered areas that were controlled by the FARC, but they have left the FARC strategically weakened, they’ve managed to take out the vast majority of their leaders and mid-level commanders.”
The Colombian National Army recently conducted a series of successful operations against coca plantations run by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The eradication efforts have inflicted significant damage on the finances of the terrorist group, which uses revenue generated by its drug production and trafficking operations to purchase weapons for terrorist attacks on the civilian population and on security forces. According to the World Drug Report 2014 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Colombian security forces have reduced coca leaf production in the country by 25 percent.
They accomplished this by targeting key regions throughout the country. For example, on October 26, troops destroyed a nursery in the Miraflores district, in the Department of Guaviare. The plantation, which contained 674,000 coca plants, belonged to the FARC’s Urias Cuéllar Front.
And a little more than a month before the operations in Guaviare, Army troops with the elite Rapid Deployment Force (FUDRA) eradicated an illegal coca leaf plantation in the Department of Meta. Revenue generated by the six-hectare plantation provided funds for the FARC’s Eastern Bloc. Military surveillance of the area helped security forces locate the Villa Hermosa coca leaf plantation.
Between January 1 and late October, FUDRA forces have destroyed 264 hectares of illegal plantations in Vista Hermosa, Uribe, Mesetas and La Macarena districts. During that time FUDRA soldiers also seized more than 8,000 gallons of liquid ingredients that FARC operatives were going to use to process cocaine alkaloid and produce cocaine.
At the same time it is eradicating coca plantations, the Army is encouraging farmers – some of whom cultivate coca for the FARC – to grow legal crops, such as cocoa beans, corn, tobacco and bananas –which they can sell legally. For example, soldiers in the Fourth Division are helping farmers in the Guaviare and Vaupés grow vegetables. The Army forges ahead with its eradication campaign while at the same time instructing local farmers on other ways of generating income through other cultivation options. An example of this were the actions of the Thirty First Jungle Brigade, part of the Fourth Division, working with farmers of the Guaviare and Vaupés areas, according to an army press release.
Impact on FARC’s finances
The military’s successful eradication operations have greatly disrupted the FARC’s usual revenue stream. Consequently, the terrorist group is turning to other illegal methods of raising funds.
“The FARC are not only involved in providing protection services to criminals organizations that dedicate themselves to drug trafficking, in many cases they are directly involved in illegal mining,” according to Jairo Libreros, a security analyst at the Externado University of Colombia. “They obtain machinery, assign personnel, and carry out all of the mining extraction process, the refinement, the negotiation, the sale and the exportation.”
The FARC also generates income from extortion and kidnapping. Its leaders have denied the organization engages in drug trafficking, but the eradication operations of the Army show those denials are untrue.
“The FARC have insisted at various times that they are not involved in the drug world, and that any involvement they might have had has been for exceptional reasons,” Libreros said. “They don’t accept that they are involved in drug trafficking in an organic or institutional way, but it has happened. Part of their policy is to deny it, even though their drugs are confiscated.”
The Army and other Colombian security forces remain vigilant in the fight against drug trafficking and production by the FARC.
“Security forces will continue to maintain increasing pressure and intelligence activities and military operations in the different areas of the country in the fight against drug trafficking,” Libreros said. “Military forces have not only recovered areas that were controlled by the FARC, but they have left the FARC strategically weakened, they’ve managed to take out the vast majority of their leaders and mid-level commanders.”
If this action had been taken with an international task force, we would have eradicated cocaine from the world already. Who can understand those FARC assassins, taking care of coca plantings to by weapons and taking about peace in Havana. This narcisist government of Santos is an embarrassment. What we need it a hard line, and government for those assassins. No despicable excuses for the farce that is the peace treaty Everyone talks about peace but no one commits It’s that our mission as military forces is to put an end to this scourge of drugs and the guerrilla which only destroy society About him/her, they are lying down not to be waken up. [laughing]. There are no problems with the merchandise being sent, and it is addressed to Mr. Ramirez Gonzalez Albuquerque. Quantity 100,000. According to my sister, yes, it was received in the beginning of the year. [laughing]. It’s all paid for, and now, you just have to wait to receive it to have an enjoyable end to the year. Do not forget to hide it since the work day continues. “Look, everyone go. Go home.” I am Juan Carlos Britto Quintero, former soldier. I am registering the loss of my military i.d. card and my pass that is why I want a certificate of my military i.d. which I lost in Putumayo during combat I lost everything that is why I want a certificate for employment thank you