He National Government He highlighted his achievements on Monday “historical“In the fight against drug trafficking, with the seizure of 889 tons of cocaine in 2024 and 600 in the first half of this yearwhile waiting for the United States decision on the evaluation of its anti -narcotics efforts.
“The change government records the most forceful figures in cocaine seizures. Also, 5,261 laboratories were destroyed and 183 extraditable have been captured“The executive said in a statement, the same day that the annual list of countries compromised in the fight against drugs is expected to disclose.
The decision of US President Donald Trumpabout the certification or descertification of Colombia will arrive amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries, and the military deployment of Washington in the Caribbean in order to stop drug trafficking.
(You can read: ‘Legitimate defense’: Nicolás Maduro justifies a possible military response to the US.).
Drug trafficking
Certification is an evaluation that the United States has done every year since 1986 about the anti -narcotics efforts of about twenty producing countries.
An eventual descertification of Colombia would affect cooperation to face posters such as the Gulf clan and guerrillas dedicated to drug trafficking such as National Liberation Army (ELN) and the FARC dissidents that did not accept the 2016 Peace Agreement.
Seizure record
Colombia, world cocaine producerseized in 2024 a total of 889 tons, “La”greater reached by the country in a year and one of the largest reported in the world“, as highlighted in the statement Police Director, General Carlos Fernando Triana.
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In the first semester of 2025, the seizures added 600 tons, 20% more than in the same 2024 period. These operations, according to Triana, cost the lives of 107 members of the Public Force, 79 of them police.
Drug trafficking
The police director traveled to Washington last week along with the Military Forces Commander, Admiral Francisco Cubidesto meet with US legislators and authorities.
“Very likely” descertification
Since he assumed the presidency in August 2022, Gustavo Petro has promoted a change of focus on the anti -drug fight, which considers failed, and suspended forced coca eradication, the main component of cocaine.
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His anti -drug policy, according to the government in the note, “Divide the state actions into two parts: the fight against the business of drug trafficking and oxygen for the coca leaf producing communities, promoting the transformation of the territory to replace illegal economies with legal“
“It is a different vision because it is not only war, but to attack in the background the social and economic reasons that serve for the incidence of drug trafficking (…) and the results are in sight“added the information.
Drug trafficking
However, a report of the COLOMBO AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (AMCHAM COLOMBIA)presented in August, warned that in the reduction of illicit crops the performance of Colombia “It is critical“, because in 2023 there were 252,572 hectares of coca, 9.8% more than in 2022and a potential production of 2,644 metric tons of pure cocaine, which represents an increase of 53% compared to the previous year.
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“The compliance index indicates that Colombia’s descertification is very likely, between 55 and 70%, more aligned in 70% than in 55%“The President of Amcham, María Claudia Lacouture.
Colombia was finally bounded in 1996 and 1997, during the Ernesto Samper government, accused of receiving illicit drug trafficking funds for its campaign.
EFE
