Peru conducts anti-drug operation near Colombia, arrests over 50
Peru has conducted an anti-drug operation in a border province where fighters for the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had reportedly taken refuge, arresting more than 50 people.
“More than 50 people have been arrested, the vast majority [of them being] Colombian nationals, who were involved in illegal drug trafficking,” Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra said in comments broadcast from the remote province of Putumayo on Monday.
He said Peruvian security forces had conducted the operation early on Monday in coordination with Colombia’s military.
The operation comes after dissident FARC rebels carried out repeated attacks on security forces in neighboring Ecuador.
According to Colombia’s Defense Ministry, some 1,200 fighters for the former rebel group FARC refused to demobilize under a 2016 accord with the Colombian government and have continued with drug trafficking activities.
Peru declared a 60-day state of emergency on Sunday for Putumayo, which is both near the border with Colombia and Ecuador, in order to guarantee security in a region rife with drug trafficking. It went into effect on Monday.
Putumayo Mayor Segundo Julca said the measure was aimed to thwart an incursion of dissident FARC rebels. He said the militants had been recruiting farmers to cultivate coca, the main component in cocaine and a lucrative crop in the poverty-stricken province.
In May, rebels distributed leaflets urging Putumayo to welcome them.
“We are not a group of criminals or drug traffickers as they call us. We are FARC rebels,” it read. “We ask for financial support from the mayor... and we call on the youth to join our ranks.”
The rebels also threatened Peru’s military, saying it had to maintain “good ties” or face retaliation.
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