This Monday Peruvian authorities arrested more than 50 people on the Colombian border as part of an anti-drug operation. The arrest took place in a jungle province where dissident former Marxist FARC rebels have reportedly taken refuge, as informed by Reuters.
The operation “Armageddon” was coordinated between Colombia’s military and Peru’s security forces and it was carried out early on Monday, according to a decree published in El Peruano.
Most of the people arrested had Colombian nationalities and were involved in illegal drug trafficking, according to information revealed by the Peruvian President, Martín Vizcarra.
“Some 1,200 fighters for the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) refused to demobilize under a 2016 peace agreement with Colombia’s government and have continued with drug trafficking activities, according to Colombia’s defense ministry”, said Reuters.
In addition, the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency on Sunday for the province of Putumayo, and the decision was followed by repeated attacks by FARC dissident rebels on security forces near Ecuador.
According to Reuters, four cocaine labs were deactivated in what Defense Minister Jose Huerta “called the biggest bust on Peru’s northern border”, as they explained.
Segundo Julca, mayor of Putumayo province, said that rebels had been recruiting farmers to grow coca, the main ingredient in cocaine and a lucrative crop. According to him, it is easier to do on the Peruvian side of the border because farmers are offered more security, rather than on the Colombian side where the military carry out more controls.
