HomeNewsBriefUS's Operation Martillo Seized Over $2Bn in Drugs
BRIEF

US's Operation Martillo Seized Over $2Bn in Drugs

19 SEP 2012 BY INSIGHT CRIME EN

Under counternarcotics effort Operation Martillo, the US military’s Southern Command has intercepted 53 percent more drug shipments than it did in the same period last year, including 105 tons of cocaine and 7 tons of marijuana.

Operation Martillo, a US-led multilateral operation to combat drug smuggling in Central America was launched in January 2012. The seizures in the first eight months of its operations mean an estimated loss of nearly $2.12 billion for drug trafficking networks, reported El Heraldo.

This year's seizure of 105 tons of cocaine is on track to surpass the total of 119 tons seized by the US Southern Command in Central America in the whole of 2011.

As part of the operation, authorities have confiscated 40 boats used for drug trafficking and arrested 225 people, the majority of whom were Colombian, according to El Heraldo.

InSight Crime Analysis

Drug trafficking in Pacific and Atlantic waters around Central America has increased significantly in recent years, according to El Heraldo, with 946 incidents involving drug boats reported in 2011 compared to 333 in 2006. Before Operation Martillo began, SouthCom commander Douglas Fraser estimated that 80 percent of drugs coming to the United States were trafficked through sea routes near the Central American isthmus.

The operation’s strategy, implemented primarily by the Joint Interagency Task Force under the US military’s Southern Command, has been to intercept these boats before they land in Central American countries where the cargo is divided and sent by land up the Pan-American Highway to the United States. The operation employs four frigates to police illegal movements with a network of radars, and in August began receiving support from some 170 marines deployed to southwest Guatemala as part of operation's second phase.

Cocaine flow has mostly decreased in the Central American isthmus as a result of the increased pressure on trafficking corridors through the region, SouthCom told the US Congress in June. This may have had the unintended consequence of causing an increase in cocaine trafficking through the Caribbean, however.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…