Trigger IX, the unprecedented mega-operation in 15 Latin American countries that seized drugs worth $5,000 million

It is an unprecedented operation, the largest of its kind in the region.

Seized more than 200 tons of drugs worth USD$5,000 million, more than 8,000 illegal firearms and 306,000 cartridges seized, and the arrest of nearly 15,000 people.

Nicknamed Trigger IX (Tractor IX in English), was the mega operation mainly aimed at countering the flow and trafficking of illegal firearms.

The authorities from 15 Latin American countries, coordinated by InterpolThey shared their information about criminal gangs to carry out this operation which has lasted 3 weeks.

In particular, it was learned that they had information about the operation of international criminal gangs such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Mara Salvatrucha.

Interpol said the arrests have disrupted several powerful gangs operating in the area.

In addition, In Paraguay, 11 people were rescued when that country’s authorities dismantled a human trafficking network in the area, Interpol reported.

North-South Coordination

The full list of countries participating in this operation are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

The experts from these countries met in an operations center in Foz do Iguaçu, border city of Brazil with Argentina and Paraguay, from March 12 to April 2.

Interpol has long warned that gun smuggling strengthens the power of gangs and fuels their criminal activities.

“The fact that an operation against illegal firearms has led to such massive drug seizures are, if necessary, further evidence that these crimes are intertwinedsaid Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock of the 203 tons of cocaine and other drugs found.

According to the security forces, there were last year increase in drug-related violencefueled by the illegal firearms trade. The operation also revealed cases of corruption, fraud, crimes against the environment and terrorist activities.

The law enforcement agency explained that large amounts of ammunition have been seized even in countries not previously associated with large-scale gun violence.

For example100,000 rounds of ammunition seized in Uruguay, the largest amount ever seized in the country. In this case, it was two European citizens who smuggled them into the Latin American country, demonstrating the need for international intelligence sharing, Interpol said.

More than half of the weapons recovered and traced in Central America come from the United States. In Mexico, this rises to 70% and in the Caribbean around 80%, the US arms control agency ATF reports, Reuters reports.

From defending prisoners to controlling drug trafficking routes

Interpol emphasized that in the operationmembers of the Brazilian organized crime group Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Mara Salvatrucha were arrestedOriginally from El Salvador.

Criminal gangs in Mexico, Central and South America are increasingly armed and local police are often outsmarted when confronted.

The Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, still controls much of the human trafficking, as well as the smuggling of drugs and weapons in Central America.

In the case of the PCC, born in Brazil almost 30 years ago, it is hegemonic not only in its place of origin, but also in the rest of the region.

It was established in the 1990s and the power of the PCC within the prisons was already known, but it was May 2006 when its true muscle was seen as it grew into the most dominant criminal organization in this country.

When he emerged from a maximum security prison in Sao Paulo, the goal of the PCC was to improve the poor conditions the prisoners claimed to be suffering.

“The establishment of the PCC improved the quality of life of many prisoners, who found protection by paying a monthly fee,” Carolina Sampó, coordinator of the Center for Studies on Transnational Organized Crime, told BBC Mundo.

The group grew and after being released from prison, the members settled on the outskirts of the most populous cities. In the case of the PCC, they did it in Sao Paulo.

He On May 12, 2006, the PCC orchestrated several prison riots and attacked state police stations in which more than 30 security officers were killed. A curfew was declared in Sao Paulo and chaos ensued. More than 500 civilians were killed in clashes between police and gangs.

Then it expanded to operate internationally with the domain of a profitable business for these types of bands: control of drug trafficking routes.

This is according to a report written by Sampó for the Elcano Royal Institute in 2019 the PCC has more than 29,000 membersof whom about 7,000 are in prison.

Interpol has not disclosed how many of its members were arrested during the Trigger IX mega operation.

The authorities have related to this group with the murder of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in May 2022 when I was on my honeymoon in Colombia. Prosecutor Pecci was investigating high-profile corruption and money laundering cases in his country.

Despite the fact that several people have been arrested and prosecuted for this, the intellectual author of the crime has not yet been identified.