Some 300 police officers captured 91 labs in San German, while two additional raids in Yapacani municipality resulted in another 158 labs seized. Police arrested roughly 20 suspects and seized at least 6,000 liters (about 1,600 gallons) of gasoline, 100 kilograms of cocaine and an unspecified amount of coca leaf. Authorities also located and destroyed three clandestine runways, including one stretching 1,000 meters (about 3,000 feet). The majority of the cocaine labs seized on the first day were located near the central plaza of San German (which has just around 1,150 inhabitants, according to a 2001 census).
Initial police reports indicate that at least six of the labs were capable of processing 100 kilograms of cocaine HCL per day. By comparison, Bolivia seized 25 cocaine HCL labs throughout the country in 2011. Previous U.N. assessments of Bolivia's role in the cocaine production chain have emphasized the shipment of coca paste to nearby countries such as Brazil, where it would then be refined into HCL. National drug seizures support this assessment. Authorities confiscated almost eight times as much paste as HCL in 2010. In July 2011, Bolivian authorities made a bust of similar size to the recent raids when they discovered 230 labs in Santa Cruz department, but it appears that most of the labs were used to manufacture coca paste rather than cocaine HCL.
However, the number of labs seized in the recent operations — along with the sophisticated shipping infrastructure revealed by the raids — may indicate a more substantial cocaine manufacturing presence than previously estimated. Although the FELCN's standards for what constitutes a lab remain unclear, the raids revealed significant cocaine processing activity in the area. The presence of runways could indicate that traffickers were shipping cocaine HCL from the location. Cocaine HCL weighs less and is more valuable than coca paste, which makes the refined product more lucrative for traffickers to ship by air.
While the Ichilo seizures still indicate that the primacy of coca paste production over cocaine HCL, they also suggest that Bolivian cocaine production has advanced in both quantity and complexity.
Colombian Involvement
These advancements have attracted an increased presence of Colombian drug trafficking organizations. Colombian groups have been expanding cocaine production operations into other areas of South America, possibly due to increased counternarcotic pressure by Colombian authorities and the need for Colombian suppliers to diversify sources. As a source of coca paste, Bolivia is a logical place for the drug traffickers to establish areas of operation, as highlighted by the network of labs and runways in San German and Nuevo Horizonte.
The recent raids also show how deeply international drug trafficking organizations have penetrated into remote areas of Bolivia. One goal of the Ichilo raids was to arrest two individuals: an unidentified Colombian citizen suspected of overseeing San German's cocaine infrastructure and a Bolivian citizen, identified only as "Roly," with suspected links to Colombian drug traffickers. The Bolivian lived in a San German mansion and had ordered at least one ambush against local police. (Neither suspect was arrested.) In addition, Bolivian law enforcement has identified Colombian drug lord Daniel "El Loco" Barrera Barrera as a primary owner of coca fields and processing infrastructure in the country.
Barrera Barrera's network has penetrated local governments and the military, and it even bribed former FELCN Director Rene Sanabria, who was found guilty of corruption by a U.S. court in 2011. The increase in Colombian involvement, combined with the advancements in cocaine production, put Bolivia in position to become a more important player in the international drug trade.
