Colombian navy confirms 87 tons of drugs seized in 2015

The Colombian Navy has seized 87 tons of drugs during 2015 and warned about a new method of trafficking, Navy commander Leonardo Santamaria said in an interview Monday.

The interview by the country's El Tiempo daily showed that the authorities had been aware of the new trafficking method by using illegal migrants as part of the immigration deal.

"Now they are carrying small quantities in boats, from 20 up to 50 kilos, and then they fill buoys with the drug and throw them to the open sea. It is already hard to catch speed boats on the open sea, so a more complex dynamic has to be conducted to spot the buoys," Santamaria told local media.

The two traditional trafficking routes remain. One is through the Pacific Ocean using speedboats from the western port city Buenaventura to Ecuador or Central America, and then to black markets in the United States.

The second route is through the Caribbean Sea via the Uraba Gulf, an isolated part in northern Colombia, whose strategic location enables criminal organizations to ship the drug produced in the central region of the country.

The official figure of drugs seized by the Colombian army, navy and police force during 2015 is 234.6 tons, 95 tons more than in 2014. It is an unprecedented and encouraging figure for the government and represents a significant blow to criminal organizations. Endi