Colombia seizes over 8 tons of cocaine at Buenaventura port VIDEO

Colombia’s law enforcement authorities have intercepted a shipment of cocaine weighing 8.2 tons at the port of Buenaventura. 

The announcement was made on January 22 by President Gustavo Petro, who highlighted the significance of this bust in the fight against drug trafficking, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

"The National Police seized 8.2 tons of cocaine in the port of Buenaventura. This month, the national police seized 24 tons," President Petro stated on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Footage released by the president revealed that the cocaine was concealed in bags of earth. Trained sniffer dogs were deployed by law enforcement to locate the hidden drugs.

According to statistics from the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, authorities confiscated 848.5 tons of cocaine in 2024, representing a 14% increase compared to the 741.2 tons seized in 2023.

This historic seizure comes on the heels of another major bust reported by President Petro on December 31, 2024. On that occasion, Colombian authorities intercepted over 5 tons of cocaine hidden in leeks and banana boxes aboard a Panamanian ship in international waters near Acapulco.

In 2024, a notable operation, "Operation Orion," conducted over six weeks, resulted in the seizure of a record 225 tons of cocaine. This multinational effort, involving 62 countries, also led to the interception of six semi-submersible vessels and the confiscation of 1,400 tons of drugs, including over 1,000 tons of marijuana. The operation disrupted new trafficking routes to Australia, underscoring the evolving tactics of drug cartels.

By Khagan Isayev