Colombia seized a monstrous amount of cocaine
Colombian police say they have seized 8.8 tons of cocaine from drug-traffickers, in what the government claims is the largest domestic drug bust in the country's history.
Police say that the haul belonged to the Urabeños, Colombia's largest and most-feared drug cartel that is also known as the Clan Usuga, and is currently being specifically targeted by the government.
The authorities said the drugs — of which nearly 1.7 tons were found wrapped and apparently ready for export — were found in an underground stash beneath a banana plantation just outside the northwestern town of Turbo, near the border with Panama.
Colombia's defense ministry released a video on Twitter Sunday evening showing the massive haul of sacks and packaged bricks of cocaine, estimated to value $240 million, arranged on the floor.
Three suspects were captured and three escaped during the raid according to a statement from the police.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos took to Twitter to congratulate the officers involved in the operation.
"Operation in Turbo seized the largest amount in our history," he posted on Sunday afternoon. "Crushing blow to criminals."
The aggressively expansionist and heavily armed Urabeños gang has ties to demobilized paramilitary groups that once fought left-wing guerrillas. It operates throughout the country, often in small towns and villages, relying on drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion for income. They have also murdered and displaced civilians, often caught in the crossfire during confrontations with rebels or state forces.
The Urabeños are particularly powerful in the northwestern Urabá region, from which they take their name. The area is a valuable drug-trafficking hotspot owing to its access to both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
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