Colombia seizes 8.8 tons of cocaine, one of largest busts ever
The historic 8.8-ton cocaine bust is both a victory for Colombian law enforcement and a grim reminder that drug war is far from over.
The historic 8.8-ton cocaine bust is both a victory for Colombian law enforcement and a grim reminder that drug war is far from over.
More than 17,500 pounds of cocaine valued at $240 million.
That's how much of the narcotic Colombian national police聽seized near the Panama border in what President Juan Manual Santos says is one of the largest busts in the country's history.
Though the seizure is likely a blow to the Clan Usuga drug trafficking and neo-paramilitary gang authorities say the contraband belongs to, it also lays bare that Colombia's drug war isn't over.
And yet, the country 鈥� once dubbed the cocaine capital of the world 鈥� has come a long way in the past 15 years, as the Monitor's Howard LaFranchi reported in March. 聽
Under Plan Colombia, a nation-building partnership between it and the United States that started under former President Bill Clinton, violence there has been reduced significantly, the Monitor reported:
Clan Usuga, which the 8.8 tons of cocaine are said to belong to, is a holdout. The US Justice Department calls Clan Usuga Colombia's "largest and most influential" drug trafficking group.聽In fact, the United States has offered a $5 million reward for the capture of Clan Usuga鈥檚 leaders, Dario "Otoniel" Usuga. The State Department claims he is one of the leaders of Los Urabenos聽it describes as聽"a heavily armed, extremely violent criminal organization comprised of former members of terrorist organizations that did not demobilize as part of the Colombian government鈥檚 justice and peace process."
Clan Usuga and other Colombian crime organizations continue to produce a substantial amount of the narcotic, although much of it was seized in 2015. Colombia produces about 442 tonnes of cocaine annually, according to the United Nations. Authorities there seized 252 tonnes of the narcotic in 2015.
And despite the success of Plan Colombia in certain regards, cocaine production in parts of the country is on the rise, as聽LaFranchi reported:
Not to mention, LaFranchi added, it is helping farmers feed the world's taste for chocolate, assisting them turn to growing cacao rather than coca 鈥� the basic ingredient of cocaine.
This report contains material from Reuters.