Colombia Police Raid 'Megalab', Seize Tons of Cocaine
Police have raided and destroyed a huge drug processing lab in eastern Colombia, seizing six tons of cocaine with a street value of $180 million, the force's chief narcotics officer said Friday.
"Police located and destroyed a cocaine production megalaboratory that belonged to the ERPAC drug gang," General Luis Alberto Perez said.
In addition to the six tons of cocaine, authorities also seized 120 tons of other materials, he said.
The lab was located in a rural area between the towns of Puerto Lopez and Puerto Gaitan, in eastern Meta department.
ERPAC, the Popular Revolutionary Anti-terrorist Army of Colombia, is an illegal armed group formed by ex-paramilitaries.
The group's founder and leader died last December, apparently after an attack by police.
Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine, with 410 tons annually, according to the latest U.N. report, although Peru has surpassed Colombia in terms of land under cultivation of coca, the main raw material for cocaine production.
Colombian cocaine's main market is the United States. Traffickers have taken to creative methods to get the drug there, including sending semi-submersible vessels to Central America full of drugs that are then sent north.
In early August, authorities in Honduras announced they had intercepted a Colombian drug submarine containing 7.5 tons of cocaine -- a record seizure for Honduras.
Source: Agence France Presse
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