Colombian ministry reports drug arrests, equipment found

The Colombian Defence Ministry reported on 28 January arrests and confiscation of equipment it said were significant blows against regional drug trafficking. Three leading members of a trafficking ring active in the San Andrés Archipelago and thought to have sent drugs to Central America, Mexico and the United States were held on or after 20 January, the Ministry stated. They were believed to have ties with one of the country's big gangs, the Rastrojos, and faced possible trafficking and murder charges. The navy also found and confiscated at an unspecified date, communication equipment thought to belong to another gang, the Urabeños, in two sites in the western department of Chocó. These included radios, GPS equipment and related items used to direct boats on the high seas, as well as guns and bullets, found under houses in Charambirá and Togoromá in the Litoral de San Juan district, the Defence Ministry stated on 28 January.