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Ammon News - Authorities of Latin America arrested 14,260 people and seized some 200 tons of cocaine as part of a major operation led by Interpol, reported the German Press Agency (dpa) quoting the international policing organisation on Tuesday.

Between March 12 and April 2, authorities seized 203 tons of cocaine and other drugs – together worth some US$5.7 billion – and 372 tons of drug precursors as part of the EU-funded Operation Trigger IX, which the policing organisation called its “biggest firearms operation.”

Some 8,263 illicit firearms and some 305,000 rounds of ammunition were also seized in the operation, which was coordinated across 15 countries.

Weapons experts from the countries involved were gathered by Interpol in the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu on the border with Paraguay and Argentina to manage the operation.

Overall, the authorities disrupted the activity of 20 criminal groups, including the Brazilian crime syndicate Primeiro Comando da Capital, the Salvadoran youth gang Mara Salvatrucha and the Balkans Cartel, which is also active in South America.

“The fact that an operation targeting illicit firearms resulted in such massive drugs seizures is further proof, if needed, that these crimes are intertwined,“ said Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock.

“The organised crime networks behind all of these illicit activities have only one priority, which is profit. We, as law enforcement, must be equally determined to dismantle them across every region and globally,“ Stock added.

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