At a press conference, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López took stock of actions -conducted across the border, mainly in the southwestern state of Apure- on the so-called Tancol (armed Colombian drug-trafficking terrorists).

Mr. López said that as part of the Bolivarian Shield 2022 exercice, aimed at neutralizing such paramilitary groups, nine irregulars from Colombia have been discharged since early 2022.

During the defensive maneuvers, the FANB troops took 16 makeshift camps operating as bases of operations for Tancol groups, where vehicles, explosives, three aircraft, communications equipment, and heavy machinery, as well as a large arsenal of war weapons, a total of 3,600 ammunition, 1.2 tons of cocaine and 800 kg of marijuana were seized, Mr. Padrino López said in his statement to the media.

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