Colombia Creates Military Command To Counter Drug Trafficking - President

MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2021) Colombia has created a separate military command dedicated to fighting drug trafficking and international threats, President Ivan Duque said Friday.

The command will include elite units of various capabilities in order to conduct operations across the country. Brigadier General Carlos Correa Consuegra has been tasked with leading the new organization.

"The Command Against Drug Trafficking and Transnational Threats #CONAT is born, with over 7 thousand man and women from [the Colombian National Army], who will vigorously fight against that scourge and organizations like ELN [National Liberation Army], Narcotalia, Los Pelusos among others that live off that crime," Duque tweeted.

Among the CONAT's tasks will be fighting against drug trafficking, illegal mining, extortion, kidnapping, arms trading, illegal migration, armed groups and criminal gangs, as well as international organized crime.

Over 90 percent of all coca plantations are located in the so-called Andean Triangle of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Last year, Colombia destroyed more than 321,000 acres of illegal plants, mostly coca.