Posted on 09/20/2005 8:03:06 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MARIPI, Colombia - Colombian troops raided a sprawling clandestine drug laboratory run by a paramilitary group that was capable of producing 10 tons of cocaine a month, officials said Tuesday.
"This is the biggest cocaine processing factory we've found this year, it contained a large quantity of chemicals used to process the drugs," Gen. Gustavo Matamoros, commander of the army's 5th Division, told The Associated Press.
In a separate operation, the military announced Tuesday that it had seized six tons of marijuana allegedly belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country's main leftist rebel group.
The drugs were discovered Monday wrapped in hundreds of red packages in southwestern Cauca state and later shown to reporters at a military base in the nearby city of Cali.
Workers at the cocaine factory escaped and no arrests were made during the raid Monday in a remote area near the town of Maripi, 50 miles north of Bogota, Matamoros said.
The drug lab, built about four months ago, was concealed under a roof made of sugar cane stalks and plastic sheeting and had enough beds to sleep at least 35 workers.
Matamoros said the lab belonged to paramilitary faction, but did not provide details.
Outlawed paramilitary groups were created two decades ago as a vigilante force to attack leftist rebels that have been waging war on the Colombian government. Both the paramilitaries and leftist rebels use drug trafficking to finance their campaigns.
The paramilitary umbrella group, the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, is involved in a two-year-old peace process, but the organization remains active in illegal activities in various parts of the country.
A soldier is seen destroying precursor chemicals to make cocaine in a makeshift laboratory discovered during a raid in a rural area of Maripi, in Boyaca state, Tuesday, Sept.20, 2005. Colombian troops raided a clandestine drug laboratory run by an unidentified paramilitary group that was capable of making 10 tons of cocaine a month, army general Gustavo Matamoros said. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Cocaine in Colombia.
Who knew??
"Colombian troops raided a sprawling clandestine drug laboratory run by a paramilitary group that was capable of producing 10 tons of cocaine a month . . . . This is the biggest cocaine processing factory we've found this year . . . . In a separate operation, the military announced Tuesday that it had seized six tons of marijuana allegedly belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country's main leftist rebel group. . . . Workers at the cocaine factory escaped and no arrests were made during the raid Monday in a remote area near the town of Maripi, 50 miles north of Bogota, Matamoros said. The drugs were discovered Monday . . . . and later shown to reporters at a military base in the nearby city of Cali. . . . . Workers at the cocaine factory escaped and no arrests were made during the raid. . . . The drug lab, built about four months ago . . . ."
The factory built four months ago was producing 10 tens of cocaine a month, but was merely the biggest of the factories they've found this year. All the workers managed to escape. The government forces tell reporters that enemy military forces are guilty of dealing in marijuana. I wonder how many tons of that they've found this year.
Yep, we sure invested wisely when we gave Colombia money to battle the drug trade. It reminds me of the plan some witless software development company came up with to give cash rewards to testers for every bug they found. Amazingly more and more bugs were found, until it finally dawned on the managers that developers and testers were colluding on creating and finding bugs, and sharing the reward money. Story courtesy of Dilbert's creator, Scott Adams.
The best way to battle the drug trade is by the vigorous use of MOABs. That way the peasants will know to stay the hell away and give up the labs.
From what I understand, the peasants have little say in the matter. It's not they who run the labs, it's the drug cartels and THEY make the peasants do, or die.
hmmm.... I like your style...
Red-diaper, doper babies....
support a commie......buy some illegal drugs
There, now that's correct.
These were right wing paramilitaries not commies.
Yes, but also in the article............."Outlawed paramilitary groups were created two decades ago as a vigilante force to attack leftist rebels that have been waging war on the Colombian government. Both the paramilitaries and leftist rebels use drug trafficking to finance their campaigns."
Drug money from leftist/socialist/communists groups from all over the world help the terrorists/leftists/socialist/communists all over the world
People should think about this, the next time their illegial drugs are delivered to them in a nice, neat, clean little package.
Know your rights, if you are saying what I think you are saying.........think about this.........simply making drugs legal will not rid the world of crack cocaine, meth, super potent weed, heroin, LSD, and a myriad of other drugs and synthetics, that harm, maim, kill, break up families, and provide support for mobsters, gangs, other organized crime, terrorists, murderers, pimps, rapists, pornographers, child molesters, dictators, corrupt law enforcement, petty and major theft, and, yes, commies.
The day that most American drug users realize that they are helping fund horrendous, evil people, every time they use illegal drugs, and decide that day to do something about it, that is the day when things will start to happen.
Criminalization hasn't rid the world of them, either ... but it has channeled inflated profits into criminal hands.
and provide support for mobsters, gangs, other organized crime, terrorists, murderers, pimps, rapists, pornographers, child molesters, dictators, corrupt law enforcement, petty and major theft, and, yes, commies.
When the drug alcohol was legalized, criminals could no longer support themselves by selling it; the same would be the case for any other drug.
"Criminalization hasn't rid the world of them, either ... but it has channeled inflated profits into criminal hands."
Criminalization hasn't rid the world of organized crime, rapists, murders, child molesters, theft, prostitution, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc..................take child sex offenders, for example, there are more child sex offenders than ever, more child porn than ever, more money made from child porn than ever, more children sexually assaulted than ever...................so, according to your theory, we should just legalize it, and every thing will be just fine. No, the answer is a society with higher moral values, and the death penalty for sex abusers of children...............they will never harm another child again.
And, yes, I am for the death penalty for drug dealers............not petty dealing, but if someone is transporting/selling/making/growing a certain amount..............it should be the death penalty..................they will never be able to directly/indirectly cause fatal traffic accidents, deadly overdoses, rapes, theft, broken homes, shattered finances, suicides, serious health problems, etc., etc., ever again, because they will be dead.
"and provide support for mobsters, gangs, other organized crime, terrorists, murderers, pimps, rapists, pornographers, child molesters, dictators, corrupt law enforcement, petty and major theft, and, yes, commies."
"When the drug alcohol was legalized, criminals could no longer support themselves by selling it; the same would be the case for any other drug."
This is a bogus comparision. Virtually all alcohol is liquid, and, thus, it is not a nightmare to control. If someone wants to illegally make, transport, and sell any significant amount of alcohol, it is very hard to hide. It is hard to hide the manufacture, transport and sale of the stuff.
The amount of most illegal drugs, necessary to equal a case of booze, can be carried on one person, without just about anyone even knowing they are concealed. Many illegal drugs come in tablet/capsule form, and, a person could carry thousands of these on their person................equaling a truck load of booze.
In comparision to the manufacture of large amounts of acohol, the manufacture of an equal amount of most drugs, in terms of "intoxicating" power, requires much less amount of space.
Think about this, also, that most all alcohol is basically the same, inasmuch as it is liquid and it is alcohol...............thus making it somewhat manageable to control. There are tens upon tens, probably hundreds, of different, unique, illegal drugs out there, with new ones being created on a regular basis...................making legalization a nightmare for sure..............in fact, I don't even think it is possible.
Killing child rapists and hardened drug dealers may sound harsh, but it would have a profound effect, and would reduce child sexual assualt and illegal drugs in Anerica big time. The problem is that currently America is more sympathetic to the victimizers than to the victims.
Finally, whatever problems we have with the legalized drug, alcohol.................traffic fatalities, rape, spousal abuse, child abuse, serious health problems, higher health care costs, broken homes, increased welfare roles, lost jobs, lost lives, horrible stories of crime and neglect.....................................these would all be compounded many fold should we make the very serious mistake of legalizing illegial drugs.
No, because child porn, unlike drug use, is a violation of rights. So not only are they morally different but practically different, because even many children have a certain capacity to resist being forced into child porn, whereas sale or use of drugs involves only willing participants who actively promote rather than resist the act.
and every thing will be just fine.
Straw man ... I never claimed "every thing will be just fine" after drug legalization, any more than "every thing was just fine" after legalization of the drug acohol. But those legalizations lessen or eliminate the harms done by criminalization.
And, yes, I am for the death penalty for drug dealers
Won't make a significant difference; drug dealers currently face death every day, from competitors or twitchy customers, but there are enough of them to meet demand, and when one dies someone steps in to take his place.
If someone wants to illegally make, transport, and sell any significant amount of alcohol, it is very hard to hide. It is hard to hide the manufacture, transport and sale of the stuff.
It happened all the time during Prohibition, so your theory is disproven by hard evidence.
There are tens upon tens, probably hundreds, of different, unique, illegal drugs out there, with new ones being created on a regular basis...................making legalization a nightmare for sure..............in fact, I don't even think it is possible.
There are even more varieties of food, but legality and regulation of food does not appear to be a "nightmare" much less "impossible." That's another theory disproven by hard evidence.
Finally, whatever problems we have with the legalized drug, alcohol.................traffic fatalities, rape, spousal abuse, child abuse, serious health problems, higher health care costs, broken homes, increased welfare roles, lost jobs, lost lives, horrible stories of crime and neglect.....................................these would all be compounded many fold should we make the very serious mistake of legalizing illegial drugs.
The problems with the legal drug alcohol were known by the America that voted to legalize alcohol, but they rightly did so anyway because they knew that the problems created or aggravated by criminalization were even worse. We should display their wisdom when it comes to other drugs. Drug criminalization inflicts all the harms that Prohibition did: enrichment of criminals, corruption of the legal system by enriched criminals, and taxpayer money down the drain.
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