HomeNewsBriefRaid of Colombia Cocaine Labs Shows Resilience of Drug Trade
BRIEF

Raid of Colombia Cocaine Labs Shows Resilience of Drug Trade

COLOMBIA / 21 FEB 2017 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

Security forces in Colombia have destroyed over 150 cocaine laboratories belonging to a criminal group that the government recently announced had been dismantled, a sign of the drug trade's resiliency as the country enters the post-conflict phase. 

Colombia's National Police announced on February 20 the destruction of 168 laboratories in the southern department of Putumayo during a security operation last week, reported El Espectador. The laboratories were reportedly operated by a criminal group in the area known as La Constru. 

The laboratories produced cocaine in both its refined and unrefined form, authorities said. In total, they seized 4.5 tons of unfinished cocaine as well as almost 20 tons of liquid and solid precursor chemicals.

The raid generated losses of 9.3 billion Colombian pesos (about $3.2 million) for the Constru, according to El Tiempo. The joint air and land operation was conducted in four Putumayo municipalities: Puerto Asís, Puerto Caicedo, Valle del Guamuez and San Miguel. 

InSight Crime Analysis

The massive operation suggests that the Constru, recently thought to have been wiped out by the security forces, is in fact taking on greater power in the cocaine hub of Putumayo. Last December, Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas declared that the Constru had been "dismantled" following the arrests of 25 members of the criminal group, including its leader. But that is obviously not the case. 

Indeed, last week's raid netted a far greater number of cocaine laboratories than past operations against the Constru, a potential sign the group is taking on a bigger role in the drug production business. This development would most likely be due to the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC), which is in the process of moving into concentration zones following a peace agreement with the government last November.

SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profiles

The Constru had reportedly forged a criminal alliance with the FARC's 48th Front, but the guerrillas' withdrawal from the civil conflict may be enabling the Constru to expand its drug trafficking operations. It's also possible that dissident FARC element have abandoned the peace process and have gone to work for the criminal group. (An InSight Crime investigative team has not yet registered any dissidents from the 48th Front.) In either scenario, the Constru stands to gain from the coming changes to Colombia's criminal landscape.  

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

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 12 MAY 2022

The assassination of a crusading Paraguayan prosecutor while on honeymoon in Colombia has caused widespread alarm about the rising levels…

COLOMBIA / 17 DEC 2021

A lucrative covert delivery business run by prison guards in Colombia has provided yet another example of the diverse range…

EX-FARC MAFIA / 13 OCT 2021

On April 23, 2021, two Venezuelan military helicopters landed near the town of La Victoria in the border state of…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Rights Watch Draws on InSight Crime's Haiti Coverage

18 AUG 2023

Non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch relied on InSight Crime's coverage this week, citing six articles and one of our criminal profiles in its latest report on the humanitarian…