Colombian police on Wednesday said it has seized 1.4 tons of “high quality” cocaine in the southwestern city of Cali.
According to the police, the shipment would have been transported to the Pacific port city of Buenaventura and from there to the port of Quetzal in the Central American country of Guatemala. The final destination of the cocaine would have been the United States, where the market value of the drug could have reached between $28 and $32 million.
Jose Roberto Leon, the director of Colombia’s national police, said the shipment belonged to the drug trafficking organization “Los Rastrojos” and was destined for an undisclosed Mexican drug cartel. The police general said the seizure was the result of more than a month of intelligence work and monitoring of the drug-running group.
Reportedly, the drugs were found in rectangular packages wrapped in plastic. The content of the packages was sent to a local police laboratory, where it was confirmed to be cocaine.
The drug bust was one of the biggest in Cali’s recent history.
Newspaper El Tiempo reported that the operation was carried out by units from Colombia’s anti-narcotics police, the prosecutor general’s office and the US drug enforcement administration (DEA).
No arrests were made during the operation, however, police said they were trying to find the presumed Rastrojos members associated with the shipment.
According to Colombian police, more than 50 tons of cocaine and 150 tons of marijuana have been expropriated on Colombian territory so far in 2013.
Los Rastrojos is one of Colombia’s largest drug trafficking organizations. Since the arrest or surrender of the three main leaders in 2012, the group is believed to operate more as a loosely connected network instead of a proper, hierarchical organization.
Sources
- Incautan 1.406 kilos de cocaína en bodega de Cali (El Tiempo)
- Policía incautó millonario cargamento de cocaína al norte de Cali (El Pais)
- Hallan millonario cargamento de cocaína en Cali (El Espectador)
- Gigantesca incautación de cocaína en Cali (W Radio)