7.5 tons of cocaine seized in Colombia-US joint operation

BOGOTA - Over 7.5 tons of cocaine were intercepted in a joint operation of Colombia and the United States, the Colombian government announced on Wednesday.

The drugs, worth $286 million, "belonged to drug trafficking structures associated with the Gulf Clan organized armed group," the government said in a statement.

Mingled with a construction product, the drugs were on a delivery course covering the Colombian port city of Cartagena and Panama.

The illegal sellers had planned to send the narcotics to criminal groups in Central America and Europe, according to the Colombian authorities.

Colombia and the United States reached an agreement in 2018 to enhance collaboration in combating drug trafficking. The two countries also set a goal to slash in half cocaine production and cultivation of its raw material coca by 2023.