Colombian authorities seized a total of 671 tons of cocaine in 2022, a record number for the country since 2010the year in which the registration began, the Ministry of Defense reported this Saturday.
“We must combat the illicit income that comes from drug trafficking that generates evil in our country”said Defense Minister Iván Velásquez, quoted in a statement from his office.
The official added that “The Public Force uses intelligence and increases the seizure and interdiction to achieve great results in terms of destruction of substances such as cocaine, marijuana, liquid and solid inputs, among others”.
Ehe department where the most cocaine was seized in 2022 was Nariño (southwest) with 80 tonsfollowed by Bolívar (north) with 48.7 and Valle del Cauca (southwest) with 43.7, added the information.
The total number of 2022 It is the largest since records exist because it exceeded the seizures made in 2021 by more than one and a half tonswhich was 669.3 tons.
Likewise, last year 87.3 tons of coca base were seizeda growth of 17% compared to 2021 when 74.5 were seized for subsequent destruction.
They were too seized 484 tons of marijuana seized and a ton and a half of bazuco.
Also “the number of gallons of seized liquid supplies for the production of illicit drugs increasedbecause in 2022 12,084,676 gallons were found, while in 2021 there were 11,100,766 gallons, with a difference of 8.9%,” added the Ministry of Defense.
Coca crops in Colombia grew by 43% in 2021the year in which 204,000 planted hectares were registered, while in 2020 that figure was 143,000 hectares, according to the annual report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Unodc) published in 2022.
These figures are the highest recorded in the 22 years that the Integrated System for Monitoring Illicit Crops (Simci) of Unodc has been presenting its annual report.