Colombian police announced on Wednesday the seizure of 8.2 tonnes of Europe-bound cocaine in Buenaventura, one of the largest ports on the country's Pacific coast.
The bust, one of the biggest ever made in the country, brings the total amount seized so far this month to more than 24 tonnes.
The cargo was intercepted during an operation conducted on Tuesday. It was destined for the Spanish city of Toledo, according to the Ministry of Defence.
This is a "major blow for the mafia cartels," General William Salamanca, Colombia's police chief, said in a statement to the press, which said the operation had been carried out in coordination with Europol.
With the seizure on Tuesday of another 1.4 tonnes by the navy in Pacific Ocean waters, "we have seized 9.9 tonnes of cocaine in 24 hours," President Gustavo Petro reported on X.
Colombian police have reported seizing 24 tonnes of cocaine so far this year. According to the Ministry of Defence, Colombian authorities seized 861.7 tonnes of cocaine in 2024, 115 tonnes more than in 2023.
The port of Buenaventura is a strategic point for the transport of drugs in Colombia, the world's leading cocaine exporter. Along with the Ecuadorian port of Guayaquil, it is one of the main transit points for the illicit drug in the Pacific Ocean.
According to a report published in October 2024 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), cocaine production rose by 53% in 2023 to 2,600 tonnes. The area under which coca - the raw material for cocaine - is cultivated has increased by 10% and now covers 253,000 hectares of Colombian territory.
The biggest coca-growing areas are largely occupied by armed groups that are fighting each other for control of these illegal economies, according to the UNODC
