Police From 15 Countries Seize $5Billion Cocaine, Other Drugs In International Operation, Make Almost 15,000 Arrests

Police from 15 nations have taken part in an international operation that led to the seizure of cocaine and other drugs worth $5 billion (£4 billion). Police in Latin America seized the drugs in an operation lasting three weeks and spanning 15 countries.Tagged Trigger IX, the global operation was mainly aimed at fighting the trafficking of illicit firearms.

The police also seized more than 8,000 illicit firearms and carried out almost 15,000 arrests. Police forces from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south exchanged information in the operation, which was coordinated by Interpol. Interpol said the arrests had disrupted the workings of several powerful gangs.

Experts from the participating countries gathered at a centre of operations in Foz do Iguaçu, a city on Brazil's border with Argentina and Paraguay, from March 12 to April 2, 2023 to exchange intelligence on the workings of international crime gangs. Their aim was to disrupt the flow of illicit firearms. Interpol sees the smuggling of weapons as one of the factors strengthening criminal gangs and fuelling their activities.

Such gangs include First Capital Command (PCC) and Mara Salvatrucha. The fact that an operation targeting illicit firearms resulted in such massive drugs seizures is further proof, if needed, that these crimes are intertwined, Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock said of the 203 tonnes of cocaine and other drugs found.

Criminal gangs in Mexico, Central and South America are increasingly well armed and local police often find themselves outgunned and overpowered when confronting them. In Brazil and neighbouring Paraguay, for example, members of the PCC have staged large-scale bank robberies and prison breaks.

The gang first emerged in Brazil but has expanded to operate internationally and has been linked to the murder of a Paraguayan prosecutor while he was on his honeymoon in Colombia. Interpol said that its operation had led to the seizure of large amounts of ammunition even in countries which have so far largely not been associated with large-scale gun violence.Police in Uruguay secured 100,000 pieces of ammunition, the largest ever amount seized in the country.