One tonne of cocaine confiscated in Guatemala

Guatemala City, Oct 24 (IANS/EFE) Guatemalan security forces confiscated nearly a tonne of cocaine during an operation in the Caribbean coastal province of Izabal, authorities said Wednesday.

The shipment, which - preliminary reports indicate - totals 975 kg, was found Tuesday night in a truck that apparently began its journey in Colombia, sources with the attorney general's office told radio stations.

The amount of the drug secreted on board the vehicle could be even greater as authorities continue to inspect the truck for hidden compartments.

The vehicle was intercepted, and the driver arrested, in the village of Quebrada Grande, some 265 km from here.

Participating in the operation were agents from the attorney general's office, interior ministry and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Guatemalan authorities seized 2,215 kg of cocaine in the first six months of 2013.

In 2012, Guatemalan security forces confiscated 3,292 kg of cocaine, and in 2012 they seized more than four tonnes.

In February 2012, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina proposed that authorities search for new strategies to fight drug trafficking, an apparent acknowledgment that the armed campaign against the societal scourge had largely failed up to that time.

--IANS/EFE

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