Army finds 7 tonnes of marijuana in a Silvia hamlet storehouse
Colombian army troops found seven tonnes of marijuana in a depot in vereda Cacique, Silvia, Cauca, a haul the Third Division called the largest made by troops since 2017. The army attributed it to the Iván Mordisco dissidents' Dagoberto Ramos substructure, valued it at more than 4 billion pesos and reported no arrests.
Colombian army troops seized seven tonnes of marijuana stored in a depot in the
caserío (hamlet) of Cacique, part of the municipality of Silvia in Cauca
department, in a joint operation with the National Police.[1]Brigadier
General Federico Mejía, commander of the army’s Third Division, called the haul
the largest seizure made by troops since 2017.[1]The army attributed the
stash to the FARC dissidents led by alias Iván Mordisco and said selling
marijuana was the group’s main source of financing.[1]Authorities added that
the load belonged to the Iván Mordisco dissidents’ Dagoberto Ramos substructure.[2]
Troops of Light Cavalry Group No. 8 and Infantry Battalion No. 7 went to the
site after military intelligence located the storage point in an operation
mounted the previous night.[2]No one was arrested in the operation, and the
seized material was handed to the authorities, the army said.[1]
According to the army, the seizure took national marijuana seizures past the
Defence Ministry’s 98-tonne target for 2024, to 112 tonnes.[2]
Photos and video
Packages of seized marijuana shown with the report of the Cauca seizure. Photo: Policía AntinarcóticosPhoto details
The exact date of the raid is not printed in either account; 17 November 2024 is the publication date of both reports, and Asuntos Legales quotes the army saying the operation was carried out 'la noche anterior' (the previous night).
No plants, growing area or number of people were reported, and no suspects were named or charged.
The more-than-4-billion-peso valuation is the army's own estimate.
The photograph on the Portafolio page carries a generic caption and a 2023 file path, so it may not show this particular seizure; it is linked from Portafolio rather than copied.
The army's own press statement could not be opened, so both accounts rely on its released statement.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Asuntos Legales: The army valued the marijuana at more than 4 billion pesos.
Army troops seized 1,700 kilograms of pressed marijuana from a van in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, capturing one person after a pursuit from a military checkpoint. The Third Division attributed the load to the FARC dissidents' Dagoberto Ramos structure and valued the loss to it at more than 425 million pesos.
Colombian army, navy and police units seized about 2,700 kilograms of suspected marijuana from a bongo remolcador river boat at the Hong Kong wharf in Puerto Asís, Putumayo. Authorities linked the load to the Segunda Marquetalia dissidence's Comandos de Frontera, without naming suspects or giving a value.
Colombian police stopped a vehicle in the urban area of Chinchiná, Caldas, carrying 520 kilograms of marijuana and arrested the person caught in the act, immobilising a car with altered identification systems. President Abelardo de la Espriella announced the haul as part of two operations, the other being 358 kilograms of cocaine found in generators at the port of Cartagena.
Colombian National Police investigators seized 7,452 grams of marijuana in the Los Quindos neighbourhood of Armenia, Quindío, along with 98 boxes of clonazepam. Police said the marijuana was meant for sale in minimum doses at sales points around the city and handed the drugs to the local prosecutor's office; no arrests were reported.
