By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA (Reuters) – The 29-country anti-drug trafficking Orion Campaign seized more than 90 tonnes of cocaine over about six weeks earlier this year, Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Wednesday.
The sixth phase of the campaign, which began in 2018, took place between Sept. 15 and Oct. 30. The cocaine confiscation is equivalent to about 250 million doses, Duque said.
“90.7 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the sixth phase of Orion. This multinational operation saves lives,” Duque said in a virtual presentation.
More than 18 tonnes of marijuana were also confiscated and 413 people of various nationalities arrested. Seven airplanes, 76 boats and five semi-submersible watercraft were impounded.
The government of the Andean country is under constant pressure from the United States to reduce cultivation of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine. It said earlier this week it would meet its eradication target for 2020, increasing removals by 30% year-on-year to record levels.
Countries participating in Orion have overall seized more than 284 tonnes of cocaine and 63 tonnes of marijuana since the operation began.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
