The Black Hawk helicopter was ready for take off – its rotor blades slicing through the air in the deadening heat of the Colombian Amazon. We ducked low and crammed in alongside the Jungle Commandos – a police special operations unit armed by the Americans and originally trained by Britain's SAS, when it was founded in 1989. The commandos were heavily armed. The mission was familiar. The weather was clear. But there was tension on board, kicking in with the adrenaline. When you go after any part of the drug trade in Colombia, you have to be ready for trouble.
The commandos often face resistance from criminal groups, and current and former guerrillas who have replaced the cartels of the 1970s and 80s. We took off, flying over the district of Putumayo - close to the border with Ecuador - part of Colombia's cocaine heartland. The country provides about 70% of the world's supply. Just ahead two other Black Hawks were leading the way.
Down below us there was dense forest and patches of bright green – the tell-tale sign of coca plant cultivation. The crop now covers an area nearly twice the size of Greater London, and four times the size of New York, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), published in 2024.
President Donald Trump says Colombia's left-wing President Gustavo Petro is not doing enough to prevent cocaine from his country winding up on America's streets. Last month he called him a 'sick man who likes selling cocaine to the United States' and said 'he could be next' for US military intervention. But that threat appears to have receded. President Petro counters that his government has seized the largest amount of drugs in history. But on his watch cocaine production has also soared to record highs.
The fight against drug production and trafficking from Colombia will be high on the agenda when the two presidents meet in the White House on Tuesday.
After 20 minutes, we land at a clearing in the jungle and see the first stage of a global drug trade. The commandos lead us to a crude cocaine lab, partly hidden by banana trees. It’s little more than a shack but it has the key ingredients – drums of chemicals and a mound of fresh coca leaves, ready to be turned into a paste.
Minutes later we are rushed away as the commandos prepare to set the lab alight – destroying the crop, and the chemicals. Dense black smoke rises from the forest as we take off. An energy drink is handed around among the commandos, who could soon be doing this all over again. Weather permitting, it’s rinse and repeat. They carry out these operations several times a day.
Back at base, Major Cristhian Cedano Díaz takes a few moments to unwind with his men. He’s a 16-year veteran of the war on drugs, standing ram rod straight, with a handgun in a holster around his neck - and with no illusions. His enemy is evolving. Colombia’s drug gangs use drones and bitcoin and bring chemists into the jungle to create ingredients on-site. He insists that destroying one lab after another serves a purpose. ‘We are affecting the profitability of the criminal groups,’ he says, referring to how the commandos’ efforts are making it harder for drug traffickers to operate effectively.
We follow the cocaine trail from the Amazon to the Colombian Andes, where challenges persist amidst evolving tactics and battles against entrenched poverty pushing farmers into the coca trade. The narratives of both the military and local farmers reflect the complexities of a law enforcement response facing deeply rooted economic and social issues.
The commandos often face resistance from criminal groups, and current and former guerrillas who have replaced the cartels of the 1970s and 80s. We took off, flying over the district of Putumayo - close to the border with Ecuador - part of Colombia's cocaine heartland. The country provides about 70% of the world's supply. Just ahead two other Black Hawks were leading the way.
Down below us there was dense forest and patches of bright green – the tell-tale sign of coca plant cultivation. The crop now covers an area nearly twice the size of Greater London, and four times the size of New York, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), published in 2024.
President Donald Trump says Colombia's left-wing President Gustavo Petro is not doing enough to prevent cocaine from his country winding up on America's streets. Last month he called him a 'sick man who likes selling cocaine to the United States' and said 'he could be next' for US military intervention. But that threat appears to have receded. President Petro counters that his government has seized the largest amount of drugs in history. But on his watch cocaine production has also soared to record highs.
The fight against drug production and trafficking from Colombia will be high on the agenda when the two presidents meet in the White House on Tuesday.
After 20 minutes, we land at a clearing in the jungle and see the first stage of a global drug trade. The commandos lead us to a crude cocaine lab, partly hidden by banana trees. It’s little more than a shack but it has the key ingredients – drums of chemicals and a mound of fresh coca leaves, ready to be turned into a paste.
Minutes later we are rushed away as the commandos prepare to set the lab alight – destroying the crop, and the chemicals. Dense black smoke rises from the forest as we take off. An energy drink is handed around among the commandos, who could soon be doing this all over again. Weather permitting, it’s rinse and repeat. They carry out these operations several times a day.
Back at base, Major Cristhian Cedano Díaz takes a few moments to unwind with his men. He’s a 16-year veteran of the war on drugs, standing ram rod straight, with a handgun in a holster around his neck - and with no illusions. His enemy is evolving. Colombia’s drug gangs use drones and bitcoin and bring chemists into the jungle to create ingredients on-site. He insists that destroying one lab after another serves a purpose. ‘We are affecting the profitability of the criminal groups,’ he says, referring to how the commandos’ efforts are making it harder for drug traffickers to operate effectively.
We follow the cocaine trail from the Amazon to the Colombian Andes, where challenges persist amidst evolving tactics and battles against entrenched poverty pushing farmers into the coca trade. The narratives of both the military and local farmers reflect the complexities of a law enforcement response facing deeply rooted economic and social issues.
