A record seizure of 225 tonnes of cocaine was made in the space of six weeks during a vast international operation against drug trafficking. No less than 60 countries participated. During this operation, a new, previously unknown drug trafficking route from Colombia – the world’s largest producer of cocaine – to Australia was discovered.
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In Australiacocaine is purchased three to six times more expensive than in the United States, up to $240,000 per kilo. And to fill their pockets, drug traffickers innovate. They use semi-submersibles, very low boats, barely visible on the surface of the water but loaded with several tons of cocaine, a far cry from the few dozen kilos usually hidden on cargo ships. These wooden ships covered with fiberglass have been modified to travel in one go without refueling the more than 15,000 kilometers that separate Colombia from Australia.
During the operation carried out by the international judicial network Orion, one of these semi-submersibles was intercepted in the Pacific, 3,500 kilometers northwest of the Colombian coast, near the French island of Clipperton. On board were five tonnes of cocaine hydrochloride, bound for Australia. “ This is the third case of semi-submersible on the Colombia-Australia route » identified. “ The first was found in Colombian waters and thanks to the cartography it carried we had identified its route », Detailed Vice-Admiral of the Colombian Navy Orlando Enrique Grisales. Since then, Colombian authorities have been working together with their Australian counterparts on this “ new line » drug trafficking.
During Operation Orion, which lasted 45 days and involved more than 60 countries around the world, more than 400 people were arrested and 1,400 tonnes of drugs seized, including 225 tonnes of cocaine. “ This will prevent thousands of overdose deaths and the cartels lost eight and a half billion dollars », welcomed the director of the anti-narcotics unit of the Colombian Navy. Colombia is the world’s largest exporter of cocaine. In 2023, cocaine production will increase by 53% to 2,600 tonnes per year, according to the United Nations.
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