Driver arrested as 100 kg of marijuana found in transformers near Pereira
Police on the highway between Valle del Cauca and Pereira arrested a 37-year-old truck driver after finding 100 kilograms of marijuana in 55 packages hidden inside electrical transformers. Officers valued the load at about 200 million pesos and handed the driver to prosecutors for drug trafficking.
🇨🇴 National highway between Valle del Cauca and Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia
Police in Risaralda arrested a 37-year-old man on the charge of trafficking,
manufacturing or carrying narcotics.[1]Officers of the Risaralda Transit and
Transportation Section stopped a truck travelling from southern Colombia towards
Bogotá at a checkpoint on the national highway that links Valle del Cauca with
the city of Pereira.[1]Caracol Radio reported that transit officers detained
the truck on the national road connecting Valle del Cauca department with
Pereira and found the drug when they inspected its load.[2]
A search of the load found 55 packages of marijuana hidden inside several
electrical transformers.[1]The marijuana weighed 100 kilograms and police
valued it at about 200 million pesos.[1]Infobae described the marijuana as
cripi-type and said the transformers looked functional.[3]The driver’s
nervousness during the inspection raised officers’ suspicions and led them to
search the cargo closely, Infobae reported.[3]Officers found 55 packages
wrapped in adhesive tape inside the transformers, all containing marijuana.[3]
The 37-year-old driver was captured at the scene and placed at the disposal of
the Fiscalía.[3]Caracol Radio reported that the load had come from the south
of the country and was headed for Bogotá.[2]Infobae called the concealment
method a new strategy by criminal groups seeking to evade controls on
trafficking corridors between south-west and central Colombia.[3]
Photos and video
Police photograph published with the statement on the 100 kg marijuana seizure from the truck stopped on the highway to Pereira. Photo: Policía Nacional de ColombiaPhoto details
Caracol Radiocaracol.com.coESEn transformadores escondían 100 kilogramos de marihuana, el cargamento cayó en Pereira
Infobaeinfobae.comESCayó cargamento de 100 kilos de marihuana camuflados en transformadores eléctricos: la droga iba a ser distribuida en Bogotá
Open questions the AI reported
The police page carries 19 May 2025 as its own date; the outlets published on 22 and 23 May, and no separate time for the checkpoint was given, so 19 May is used as the incident date.
The 200 million peso figure is the authorities' own estimate of the load's worth.
The driver's name was not published.
No charging decision or court outcome was reported.
Caracol Radio and Infobae place the discovery at Pereira while the police account places the checkpoint on the highway between Valle del Cauca and Pereira; the exact municipality is not stated.
The outlets credit their image to the National Police and appear to republish the same police handout; only the police page image is listed once.
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Córdoba police arrested seven people on drug-trafficking charges across Lorica, Planeta Rica, Montelíbano and Tierralta, seizing 20.6 grams of weighed marijuana and 12 marijuana cigarettes alongside cocaine, bazuco, coca base and cash. All seven detainees were placed at the disposal of the Fiscalía General de la Nación while their legal status is decided.
National Police arrested a 35-year-old man in the Oasis neighborhood of Rivera, Huila, seizing 57 marijuana cigarettes from his backpack during a Plan Cazador night patrol. He was placed at the disposal of the competent authority on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Police in Frontino, Antioquia, arrested a man in flagrante in the La Máquina sector after finding 219 grams of marijuana along with coca base and bazuco. He was placed at the disposal of local prosecutors on suspicion of trafficking, manufacturing or carrying narcotics.
