The Anti-Drug Directorate of Peru’s National Police (DIRANDRO) arrested 15 suspects and seized more than $11 million in assets on December 11, dismantling a criminal organization accused of laundering money for narco-traffickers, according to Interior Minister Daniel Urresti.
The Anti-Drug Directorate of Peru’s National Police (DIRANDRO) arrested 15 suspects and seized more than $11 million in assets on December 11, dismantling a criminal organization accused of laundering money for narco-traffickers, according to Interior Minister Daniel Urresti.
Law enforcement agents seized an array of vehicles and 16 properties from an organization that established front companies and proxies to launder drug money and make illegal property purchases, according to General Vicente Romero Fernandez, the head of DIRANDRO.
The criminal organization had allegedly been led by Feliciano Contreras Pino, who is also known as “Brujo.” Law enforcement officers captured Brujo in 2012, and a Peruvian judge has sentenced him to 25 years in prison for narco-trafficking. Law enforcement officers suspect he is still playing a role in the organization, which operates in Peru and Bolivia. Four of his siblings are facing charges in Bolivia for their alleged roles in the criminal enterprise.
Peru is the world’s largest cocaine producer and neighboring Bolivia serves as a key transshipment point for the drug to be trafficked throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Peru and Bolivia recently signed an agreement to work together to combat narco-trafficking and other criminal activities along their shared border beginning in 2015. To detect suspicious vessels on Lake Titicaca, which they share, the naval forces of both countries will use a sophisticated satellite system that operates 24 hours a day. Interdictions will be coordinated by security forces from both nations.
Brujo’s organization may be linked to the First Catarinense Group (PGC) — a Brazil-based criminal organization that could be responsible for as much as 60 percent of all of the cocaine trafficked out of Peru. It’s the biggest customer of numerous cocaine operations in Peru’s Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers Valley (VRAEM), where narco-trafficking groups process about 200 tons of cocaine annually. The PGC flies cocaine into Brazil using light aircraft that have access to about 52 clandestine landing strips in the VRAEM and nearby areas. They also utilize land and river routes along the border between Colombia and Brazil, according to DIRANDRO.
Costa Rica seizes a record volume of cocaine in 2014
Costa Rica will seize a national record of more than 26 metric tons of cocaine in 2014, which surpasses last year’s record of 21.8 metric tons, Security Minister Celso Gamboa said on December 16.
Costa Rican law enforcement confiscated $13 million from narco-traffickers and broke up 124 national and international criminal organizations this year. Overall, the number of Costa Ricans involved in narco-trafficking appears to be decreasing, according to Gamboa. It is also likely that the total number of homicides will be lower than in 2013.
The Anti-Drug Directorate of Peru’s National Police (DIRANDRO) arrested 15 suspects and seized more than $11 million in assets on December 11, dismantling a criminal organization accused of laundering money for narco-traffickers, according to Interior Minister Daniel Urresti.
Law enforcement agents seized an array of vehicles and 16 properties from an organization that established front companies and proxies to launder drug money and make illegal property purchases, according to General Vicente Romero Fernandez, the head of DIRANDRO.
The criminal organization had allegedly been led by Feliciano Contreras Pino, who is also known as “Brujo.” Law enforcement officers captured Brujo in 2012, and a Peruvian judge has sentenced him to 25 years in prison for narco-trafficking. Law enforcement officers suspect he is still playing a role in the organization, which operates in Peru and Bolivia. Four of his siblings are facing charges in Bolivia for their alleged roles in the criminal enterprise.
Peru is the world’s largest cocaine producer and neighboring Bolivia serves as a key transshipment point for the drug to be trafficked throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Peru and Bolivia recently signed an agreement to work together to combat narco-trafficking and other criminal activities along their shared border beginning in 2015. To detect suspicious vessels on Lake Titicaca, which they share, the naval forces of both countries will use a sophisticated satellite system that operates 24 hours a day. Interdictions will be coordinated by security forces from both nations.
Brujo’s organization may be linked to the First Catarinense Group (PGC) — a Brazil-based criminal organization that could be responsible for as much as 60 percent of all of the cocaine trafficked out of Peru. It’s the biggest customer of numerous cocaine operations in Peru’s Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers Valley (VRAEM), where narco-trafficking groups process about 200 tons of cocaine annually. The PGC flies cocaine into Brazil using light aircraft that have access to about 52 clandestine landing strips in the VRAEM and nearby areas. They also utilize land and river routes along the border between Colombia and Brazil, according to DIRANDRO.
Costa Rica seizes a record volume of cocaine in 2014
Costa Rica will seize a national record of more than 26 metric tons of cocaine in 2014, which surpasses last year’s record of 21.8 metric tons, Security Minister Celso Gamboa said on December 16.
Costa Rican law enforcement confiscated $13 million from narco-traffickers and broke up 124 national and international criminal organizations this year. Overall, the number of Costa Ricans involved in narco-trafficking appears to be decreasing, according to Gamboa. It is also likely that the total number of homicides will be lower than in 2013.