Colombian police have dismantled a network of chemical suppliers that helped process cocaine for FARC guerrillas and drug trafficking organization “Rastrojos,” reported local media Friday.
Counter-narcotics police have arrested 16 people suspected of procuring controlled chemical for the guerrilla group FARC’s 6th Front and criminal gang Rastrojos. The group primarily operated out of the western provinces of Valle de Cauca, Cauca and Nariño.
Police detained alleged ringleader Ana Isabel Guerrero Andrade in Pasto, the capital of Nariño. Arrests also took place in Buenaventura, Tulua, Santander de Quilichao and Corinto.
Authorities claimed Guerrero used two legitimate chemical companies, based in Cali and Pasto, to legally acquire the controlled chemical substances. The materials were then distributed to FARC and Rastrojos laboratories to produce cocaine hydrochloride.
“The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Group of the Counter-narcotics Directorate. It took 10 months of work to locate and identify each of the members of this criminal group. A human source provided the lead,” said counter-narcotics chief General Luis Alberto Perez Alvaran.
As a result, “it is considered that this criminal network has been completely dismantled,” he added.