Troops with the Colombian National Army’s Joint Task Force Omega found weapons, including an anti-aircraft gun, that the terrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) allegedly planned to use against Soldiers in the departments of Caquetá and Meta, the Army said on January 12.
Troops with the Colombian National Army’s Joint Task Force Omega found weapons, including an anti-aircraft gun, that the terrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) allegedly planned to use against Soldiers in the departments of Caquetá and Meta, the Army said on January 12.
In the Department of Meta, Troops seized a cannon pointed at a clearing where Military helicopters would land to transport Soldiers in pursuit of the FARC.
“The anti-aircraft gun had a length of 2.2 meters, a diameter of 30 millimeters and was in perfect working order, indicating that it would be used to attack the aircraft that would have evacuated wounded people and delivered supplies to the Troops,” the Army reported.
Additionally, Soldiers in the village of Santa Helena in Meta destroyed a homemade improvised explosive device (IED) the FARC was allegedly planning to use against Troops. It was 1.1 meters in length, 50 centimeters in diameter and held 25 kilograms of explosives and shrapnel, with a blast diameter of 50 meters, according to the Army.
In another operation, in the Department of Caquetá, Bomb Technicians of the Specific Command of Caguán safely detonated an explosive device it found in an area along the Caguán River known as “Kilometer Seven,” a popular spot for Soldiers to get water while on patrol, according to the Army.
Bolivian Army and FELCN cooperate
The Bolivian Armed Forces played a major role in the year-end results of the country’s Special Force against Drug Trafficking, which incinerated a total of 34 tons of illegal substances in 2014, according to Deputy Minister of Social Defense Felipe Cáceres.
“I want to highlight the work of the Armed Forces for providing support, mainly the Army,” Cáceres told reporters on January 15. “This is because drug traffickers are in inhospitable places and they can’t be reached by air or water.”
Cáceres made his announcement after Antonino de Leo, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) representative in Bolivia, said that security forces destroyed more than 18 tons of cocaine base, four tons of cocaine hydrochloride and 12 tons of marijuana in 2014.
“The main conclusions from this are prosecutors are complying with the law, and they are doing so with transparency and in the presence of witnesses and the media,” de Leo told reporters.
The country’s largest cocaine seizure in 2014 occurred in November, when Bolivian law enforcement officers found 412 kilograms, worth more than $15 million, hidden inside 3,522 boxes of salt lamps aboard a trailer-truck.
Colombia Army Scores Victories against FARC, Clan Úsuga, ELN
The Colombian National Army captured three alleged members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), dismantled a shelter used by Clan Úsuga, and seized an array of weapons from the National Liberation Army (ELN) during recent operations nationwide.
In one case, the Army’s Third Brigade arrested an alleged member of the FARC found with explosives in the municipality of Dagua in the Department of Valle del Cauca. In another operation, Soldiers with the Gaula Cundinamarca Group carried out an arrest warrant that had been issued for an alleged member of the FARC’s 51st Front, who was accused of kidnapping, stealing vehicles, and committing acts of rebellion. Separately, Soldiers with the Gaula Tolima Group in the Department of Tolima arrested a third suspect — an alleged member of the FARC’s 21 Front suspected of charging millions of pesos in extortion fees.
The Army didn’t release the names of the suspects, who were captured on January 15, according to the Army’s website.
A day after Soldiers captured those three suspects, the Army’s Tenth Brigade made it harder for members of Clan Úsuga to operate in the Department of Antioquia by destroying one of the narco-trafficking group’s clandestine camps in the town of Cáceres. As part of Operation Sword of Honor III, Troops dismantled the encampment, which had the capacity to accommodate up to 20 people. The Army did not immediately disclose whether Troops captured any suspects or seized any narcotics at the camp.
And in another operation on January 15, the Army’s Vulcano Task Force, which is part of the Second Division, confiscated grenades, grenade launchers and ammunition cartridges belonging to the ELN in the Department of Norte de Santander. The ELN – the country’s second-largest terrorist organization behind the FARC – was stockpiling weapons to unleash attacks on civilians, security forces and key points of infrastructure.
Honduras: FUSINA works to improve security in San Pedro Sula
Honduras’ National Interagency Security Force (FUSINA) pursued narco-traffickers and gang members who residents claimed were trying to steal property in the zone of Rivera Hernández in the city of San Pedro Sula on January 16.
Agents with FUSINA, an elite security force comprised of Army Soldiers and National Police officers, kept a close eye on vehicles, buses and residences, while sniffer dogs searched for narcotics in one of San Pedro Sula’s roughest areas.
FUSINA has been proactive in combating narco-trafficking groups, which include Mexican drug cartels that have established a presence in the Central American nation.
For example, FUSINA captured Héctor Emilio Fernández Rosa, an alleged drug trafficker suspected of working with Mexican transnational criminal organization Los Zetas, in an upper-class neighborhood about 15 miles north of Tegucigalpa on October 7, 2014.
Troops with the Colombian National Army’s Joint Task Force Omega found weapons, including an anti-aircraft gun, that the terrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) allegedly planned to use against Soldiers in the departments of Caquetá and Meta, the Army said on January 12.
In the Department of Meta, Troops seized a cannon pointed at a clearing where Military helicopters would land to transport Soldiers in pursuit of the FARC.
“The anti-aircraft gun had a length of 2.2 meters, a diameter of 30 millimeters and was in perfect working order, indicating that it would be used to attack the aircraft that would have evacuated wounded people and delivered supplies to the Troops,” the Army reported.
Additionally, Soldiers in the village of Santa Helena in Meta destroyed a homemade improvised explosive device (IED) the FARC was allegedly planning to use against Troops. It was 1.1 meters in length, 50 centimeters in diameter and held 25 kilograms of explosives and shrapnel, with a blast diameter of 50 meters, according to the Army.
In another operation, in the Department of Caquetá, Bomb Technicians of the Specific Command of Caguán safely detonated an explosive device it found in an area along the Caguán River known as “Kilometer Seven,” a popular spot for Soldiers to get water while on patrol, according to the Army.
Bolivian Army and FELCN cooperate
The Bolivian Armed Forces played a major role in the year-end results of the country’s Special Force against Drug Trafficking, which incinerated a total of 34 tons of illegal substances in 2014, according to Deputy Minister of Social Defense Felipe Cáceres.
“I want to highlight the work of the Armed Forces for providing support, mainly the Army,” Cáceres told reporters on January 15. “This is because drug traffickers are in inhospitable places and they can’t be reached by air or water.”
Cáceres made his announcement after Antonino de Leo, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) representative in Bolivia, said that security forces destroyed more than 18 tons of cocaine base, four tons of cocaine hydrochloride and 12 tons of marijuana in 2014.
“The main conclusions from this are prosecutors are complying with the law, and they are doing so with transparency and in the presence of witnesses and the media,” de Leo told reporters.
The country’s largest cocaine seizure in 2014 occurred in November, when Bolivian law enforcement officers found 412 kilograms, worth more than $15 million, hidden inside 3,522 boxes of salt lamps aboard a trailer-truck.
Colombia Army Scores Victories against FARC, Clan Úsuga, ELN
The Colombian National Army captured three alleged members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), dismantled a shelter used by Clan Úsuga, and seized an array of weapons from the National Liberation Army (ELN) during recent operations nationwide.
In one case, the Army’s Third Brigade arrested an alleged member of the FARC found with explosives in the municipality of Dagua in the Department of Valle del Cauca. In another operation, Soldiers with the Gaula Cundinamarca Group carried out an arrest warrant that had been issued for an alleged member of the FARC’s 51st Front, who was accused of kidnapping, stealing vehicles, and committing acts of rebellion. Separately, Soldiers with the Gaula Tolima Group in the Department of Tolima arrested a third suspect — an alleged member of the FARC’s 21 Front suspected of charging millions of pesos in extortion fees.
The Army didn’t release the names of the suspects, who were captured on January 15, according to the Army’s website.
A day after Soldiers captured those three suspects, the Army’s Tenth Brigade made it harder for members of Clan Úsuga to operate in the Department of Antioquia by destroying one of the narco-trafficking group’s clandestine camps in the town of Cáceres. As part of Operation Sword of Honor III, Troops dismantled the encampment, which had the capacity to accommodate up to 20 people. The Army did not immediately disclose whether Troops captured any suspects or seized any narcotics at the camp.
And in another operation on January 15, the Army’s Vulcano Task Force, which is part of the Second Division, confiscated grenades, grenade launchers and ammunition cartridges belonging to the ELN in the Department of Norte de Santander. The ELN – the country’s second-largest terrorist organization behind the FARC – was stockpiling weapons to unleash attacks on civilians, security forces and key points of infrastructure.
Honduras: FUSINA works to improve security in San Pedro Sula
Honduras’ National Interagency Security Force (FUSINA) pursued narco-traffickers and gang members who residents claimed were trying to steal property in the zone of Rivera Hernández in the city of San Pedro Sula on January 16.
Agents with FUSINA, an elite security force comprised of Army Soldiers and National Police officers, kept a close eye on vehicles, buses and residences, while sniffer dogs searched for narcotics in one of San Pedro Sula’s roughest areas.
FUSINA has been proactive in combating narco-trafficking groups, which include Mexican drug cartels that have established a presence in the Central American nation.
For example, FUSINA captured Héctor Emilio Fernández Rosa, an alleged drug trafficker suspected of working with Mexican transnational criminal organization Los Zetas, in an upper-class neighborhood about 15 miles north of Tegucigalpa on October 7, 2014.