Colombian anti-narcotics police detained 25 people Thursday at a coca processing center "controlled by the FARC" who were apparently forced to work there by the guerrillas.
The cocaine-producing laboratory operated in the La Macarena nature reserve in the department of Meta, and according to Military Forces spokesmen many of the detainees are natives to that region.
At the time of their capture, the 25 people (including five children), "were processing 30 pounds of coca leaves." The authorities suspect that members the FARC's "Eastern Bloc" had been forcing many of the individuals to work in the lab.
The lab is next to a twelve hectare coca leaf plantation, reported EFE.
The detainees are to be brought before the courts in the town of Granada where a judge will define their legal status.
Kalcu
said:
 |
... 30 pounds of coca leafs is not a lot when you in the source country, it takes 200 kilo's of leaf to extract a kilo of alkaloids. I don't believe FARC is sophisticated enough to import the large quantities of regents required to operate the extractions that do take place. It's easier to smuggle automatic weapons than 55 gallon barrels full of highly explosive diethyl ether. |
