A massive anti-drug operation led by Colombia and involving 62 countries has uncovered a world record-setting amount of cocaine. The six-week haul, weighing in at 225 metric tons, is the largest ever for a single anti-narcotics operation, the Guardian reports. It represents about 8% of the total cocaine produced worldwide in 2022, per CNN. Colombia's record for annual seizures is 671 metric tons. "This will prevent thousands of deaths from overdoses and $8.5 billion from reaching the cartels which definitely makes a hole in the profits of these criminal organizations," said Captain Manuel Rodríguez, director of the Colombian navy's anti-narcotics unit.
Five metric tons of cocaine were seized from a single narco sub with five people on board that was traveling on what authorities say is a new marine trafficking route from Colombia to Australia. It was one of six uncovered during the operation, which ran from Oct. 1 to Nov. 14. Another narco sub found in Colombian waters held maps that first led authorities to identify the route, said Vice Adm. Orlando Enrique Grisales, chief of naval operations staff for the Colombian Navy. "That's when we began working with Australian authorities," he said.
Rodríguez said it was the first time a narco sub was found sailing to Oceania, suggesting traffickers had added fuel capacity to bypass ports. Australia has some of the highest prices in the world for cocaine (up to $240,000 per kilogram, per the Guardian), giving traffickers an incentive to reach its distant shores, 4,000 miles from Colombia. Operation Orion nabbed 1,400 metric tons of drugs in all, including more than 1,000 metric tons of marijuana. More than 400 people were arrested during the operation, which also uncovered illegal weapons shipments and migrant traffickers. Rodríguez credited the sharing of intelligence and resources between so many countries, adding he hoped it marked a turning point. (More drug bust stories.)
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