143 kilos of marijuana found in Cali's rainy water channel

The Attorney General's Office confirmed that residents of the Las Brisas neighborhood of Los Alamos, north of Cali, reported to Metropolitan Police agents the presence of eight plastic and cardboard cans, which were thrown from a truck by two people into a rainwater canal.

According to the authorities, the shipment found contained about 143 kilos of marijuana, which has an estimated value of 150 million pesos on the black market. This is why a sectional prosecutor opened an investigation into the crimes of manufacturing, trafficking and carrying narcotics.

Preliminary investigations indicated that 286 packages with creepy were found in the 8 cans; which would have been transported from the village of El Palo, a rural area of the municipality of Caloto, northern part of the department of Cauca.

In this same department, the National Army carried out joint actions with the Technical Investigation Corps, CTI, where they found a van, apparently abandoned, containing a 42-and-a-half kilo cargo of coca base. The drug would be on the plate of the vehicle, divided into 37 packages wrapped with black tape. A cell phone was also collected during the seizure.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the origin of the van and who might own the narcotics base are under investigation. That is why it was requested, before a guarantee control judge, to advance the diligence of such seizure under the crimes of aggravated trafficking, manufacture and/or carrying of narcotic drugs.

In fact, returning to Valle del Cauca, the authorities on the Candelaria-Palmira highway, also confirmed the discovery of 253 packages, where they found about 260 kilograms of marijuana.

On a daily basis, the authorities report the capture of people related to drug trafficking or the seizure of various drugs; these operations are priorities for the entities and the government. The fight against drugs is a commitment made by Colombia at the international level. This is why during the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Anti-Narcotics Directorate of the National Police; the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, delivered the balance of what the country has found and judicialized during the year, with a cut to March 2022.

He also claimed that in January of this year alone, the authorities seized more than one million kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride, nearly 180,000 kilos of coca base and approximately one million kilos of marijuana. It is estimated that these operations have generated losses for criminal organizations, amounting to more than a billion dollars.

Colombia has intensified these efforts, mainly since the middle of last year, when the White House, United States, issued a report stating that the country had achieved record numbers in the increase in illicit crops.

According to these statistics, in 2021, Colombia had about 245,000 hectares of coca leaf plantations, generating a production potential of at least 1000 tons. These numbers represent a 15% increase compared to 2020, with these being the highest levels recorded in the last decade.

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