In a joint operation code named “Operation Delfin,” Colombian and U.S. authorities arrested 20 individuals believed to belong to an international drug-trafficking ring Wednesday, reports El Espectador.
Colombian National Police Director Oscar Naranjo announced that Operation Delfin – a collaboration between Colombian police, Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s office, and the U.S.’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – had nabbed the alleged narcos.
Those arrested are believed to be responsible for moving drug shipments from the Bajo Cauca region in the central Colombian department of Antioquia, to the Colombian Caribbean island of San Andres, and then on to their final destination, the U.S.
According to Naranjo, the arrests mark a serious hit against the drug-traffickers in Colombia.
“Amongst those captured in this bi-national operation, there is an explosive mix, in that there are members from the ‘Los Rastrojos’ and ‘Urabeños’ gang, who form part of the general criminal infrastructure servicing the narco-trafficking industry,” the police commissioner said.
Of the 20 arrested, five of them were already wanted for extradition to the U.S., and ten more are being processed for extradition, Naranjo said.
The arrests mark another blow to the “Los Rastrojos” organization.
In April, several members of the gang were arrested, and a 675 kilo shipment of cocaine, valued at over $20 million, that was being transported in a speed boat in Pacific waters between Colombia and Panama was intercepted by the Colombian Navy.