On 6 August, Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera announced the implementation of Operation Troy 3, intended to combat criminal gangs in northwestern Valle del Cauca and southern El Chocó.
On 6 August, Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera announced the implementation of Operation Troy 3, intended to combat criminal gangs in northwestern Valle del Cauca and southern El Chocó.
The high-ranking official indicated that this new operation seeks to intensify all institutional efforts “to push back, neutralize, and cause the disappearance of that criminal threat.” Estimates are that this operation will be launched in three weeks.
This was revealed at a security council meeting held in Roldanillo, Valle del Cauca, where it was explained that this institutional action will take place in the region encompassed by the municipalities of Buenaventura and Roldanillo in Valle del Cauca and Itsmina in El Chocó.
“It’s a kind of triangle in which we’re seeing illicit crops, laboratories for producing cocaine, the presence of criminal gang structures and networks of hitmen and micro-traffickers, disrespecting the lives and the values of the good people who live in this region, motivating this reaction of joint and coordinated action by all of the country’s armed services and judicial institutions,” the minister said.
Rivera added that the fight against drug trafficking and criminal gangs in the area will be strengthened with the presence of jungle commandos and a unit of mobile paramilitary police squads. Finally, he called on citizens to report crimes and trust the authorities, supplying information that can make it possible to identify the criminals who are assaulting and committing extortion against the region’s inhabitants.
The Cauca valley is located in the south -(west) of Colombia; El Chocó, in the northwest.