A joint operation between security forces of Colombia and U.S. resulted in the confiscation of more than 4,000 kilos of cocaine off the coast of El Salvador last week.

Authorities said the shipment, containing a total of 4,156 kilos of cocaine, was pulled off from two speedboats that were busted off Punta Remedios, El Salvador,  Daily Mail reported.

According to National Police of Colombia general Jorge Vargas, the speedboat and the other similar vessel were intercepted 406 and 430 miles off Punta Remedios, carrying the combined $166 million worth of cocaine.

Vargas said the two narco vessels had sailed from a port in Tumaco city at the northwestern department of Nariño last week to transport the cocaine shipment. However, he did not mention the final destination of the delivery.

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Authorities Intercept Speedboats in Colombia Carrying Cocaine Worth Millions

As officials zeroed in on one of the narco boats, surveillance video shows it idling in the Pacific Ocean seas off the coast of Punta Remedios.

Footage also shows three of the seven suspected drug traffickers raising their hands as authorities approached their speedboat. All of them were arrested and detained.

Authorities said at least two of the suspects were Ecuadorian nationals, while the other five were Colombians.

Vargas noted that the suspects separated the cocaine bundles by using and placing labels of Fendi and Polo Ralph Lauren logos. Three 7's were featured on another label.

The massive shipment, according to Vargas, belonged to a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia dissident organization headed by Iván Márquez, a guerrilla leader who was a part of the 2016 peace accord with the government before he abandoned the peace process in 2019.

Vargas said the illegal drug shipment was supervised by Allende Perilla Sandoval, a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armes Forces of Colombia dissident group, and sent by guerrilla members Cagua and Malon. 

Vargas noted that Sandoval, who reportedly oversees the rebel group's drug trafficking operations, is a top drug trafficker in Tumaco.

According to Vargas, the 4,156 kilos of cocaine bust was the biggest over the last months.

Over 659 Tons of Cocaine Seized in Colombia in 2021

In 2021, Colombian officials seized more than 659 tons of cocaine and destroyed over 5,414 clandestine drug labs, according to an end-of-year narcotics report provided by Defense Minister Diego Molano. 

At least 254,000 acres, where coca leaves were planted, were also destroyed, including 148,000 acres in the departments. According to Insight Crime, dismantling a drug trafficking marijuana and cocaine from Colombia to Brazil showed greater connections between organized crime in the two countries.

In a January 3 report, Colombia's Attorney General's Office said five men were recently apprehended in the southern department of Putumayo on suspicion of trafficking drugs across the Brazilian border and selling them to Brazilian cartels.

The men allegedly had their own marijuana plantations in Colombia's Cauca department and then used Indigenous people to transport the contraband. The marijuana and cocaine shipments were reportedly stored near the Brazilian border before being sent across by boats.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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