Police captured 23 individuals and seized 1,600 kg of cocaine and drug production chemicals in Operation Conquest, according to a statement issued by Colombia’s National Police, Saturday.
Ten raids were carried out in Cartagena, San Andres, Barranquilla, Medellin and Rionegro in cooperation with Nicaraguan authorities.
The raids led to the capture of 23 criminals including a man identified as “Alex”, the alleged ringleader of the drug trafficking arm of neo-paramilitary criminal group ERPAC. 1,600 kg of chemicals used in the production of cocaine were also seized leading to the dismantling of a national and international drug trafficking operation conducted by the ERPAC.
Members of ERPAC were identified after a 12 month investigation carried out by the Criminal Investigation Department, Interpol, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Arrest warrants were issued against them for the crimes of conspiracy to manufacture and traffic drugs.
The investigation also revealed that the group had an infrastructure involving financial partners, land and river transportation, an armed unit, a team of hit men and contacts with organizations in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico who worked together in the shipment of cocaine to the U.S.
This is a further blow to ERPAC whose financial leader was captured by Colombian Police in February 2011.