Soldiers of Mountain Infantry Battalion No. 9, attached to the Ninth Brigade of the Colombian National Army, captured two men and seized 87 kilograms of marijuana in the rural area of San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá.[1][2] The men were carrying the drug on two motorcycles.[1][2] The procedure took place at a checkpoint the battalion had set up in the sector of Balsillas.[1][2] The two men were caught in the act and, together with the motorcycles and the seized substance, were left at the disposal of the competent authorities.[1] The men were handed to the judicial authorities for hearings to legalise their arrests and to bring charges of trafficking, manufacturing or possession of narcotics.[2]
According to the military account, the soldiers signalled the riders to stop and, on inspecting the motorcycles, found the marijuana being moved along that road corridor.[1] A further account of the same checkpoint said the soldiers ordered the two motorcycles to stop and found several packages of a plant substance corresponding to marijuana.[3] The Army estimated that the 87 kilograms had a commercial value of about 160 million pesos and represented about 174,000 doses that would not reach the illegal market.[1][2] It said the seizure hit the finances of networks dedicated to drug trafficking by stopping a load that was allegedly destined for sale.[1]
The operation was carried out by troops of the Ninth Brigade as part of military actions against the transport of drugs in the department of Caquetá.[1] The military unit said it would continue checkpoints and operations on the corridors used to move drugs, in order to affect illegal economies and strengthen the security of communities.[1] Judicial proceedings were still to establish the detained men’s responsibility for transporting the drug.[1]
