Colombia records cocaine seizures record in 2022

Colombia closed 2022 with the largest number of seized cocaine since records were available, upon seizing 671 tons of the drug, the security forces of the South American country reported on Saturday.

The figure exceeded the confiscations of the previous year by more than 1.5 tons, according to data released by the Ministry of Defense. In 2020, seizures reached 505 tons, while in 2019 they were 428 tons.

“We must combat the illicit income that comes from the drug trafficking which generates the evils in our country, the Public Force uses intelligence and increases the seizure and interdiction to achieve great results,” Defense Minister Iván Velásquez said, quoted in a statement.

The departments of Nariño, Bolívar and Valle del Cauca were the ones that registered the highest number of requisitions during the period, according to the figures.

The cocaine production and trafficking They are considered the main fuel that feeds the armed conflict of almost six decades and that has left more than 450,000 dead and millions displaced.

The guerrilla of the National Liberation Army, the FARC dissidents and criminal gangs made up of former right-wing paramilitaries are implicated in drug trafficking.