With consecutive operations, Eco III and Basalto II, the Paraguayan Army carried out various movements in the red zone of the border with Brazil, in the departments of Concepción, Amambay, Alto Paraná, Alto Paraguay, and Canindeyú.
These dry and wet border areas (due to the Paraná River) are considered highly dangerous due to their wooded nature and proliferation of illegal marijuana crops; furthermore, they are considered transit routes for Brazilian criminal organizations such as the well-known Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho.
In Eco III, the Paraguayan Army through the Joint Task Force (FTC) and the Internal Defense Operations Command (CODI), together with personnel from the National Police and the Anti-Drug Secretariat, dealt a blow valued at more than USD 2.5 million to drug trafficking with over 25 hectares of marijuana destroyed and stockpile camps suppressed.
Meanwhile, Basalto II has become a flagship operation within the Paraguayan Army, in conjunction with Brazilian Army personnel. From the Brazilian side, the operation is called Ágata Oeste.
With a personnel of more than 1,000 Armed Forces members and over 800 National Police officers from Paraguay, Tucano aircraft, and helicopters from the Air Force, 14 Navy boats to cover the Paraná, Paraguay, and Apa rivers; and more than 140 ground vehicles scouring the border areas with Brazil. As for results, so far, Basalto II has accounted for more than USD 8.2 million in lost profits for criminal organizations operating in the area.
ESTABLISHED AND ACTIVE OUTPOST
In a conversation with Colonel Luis Apesteguía from the Joint Task Force of the Paraguayan Army, he mentioned the establishment of the new Pacification Subarea in the department of Canindeyú, ordered by President Santiago Peña.
“We now occupy a previously seized location that serves as our base. We have sufficient personnel from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, we have light armored vehicles, the possibility of air support, we have two rotary-wing aircraft that can constantly support us,” Colonel Apesteguía told Zona Militar.
Recently, this outpost had to support the Ministry of Interior and the National Police in quelling a riot inside the Pedro Juan Caballero penitentiary, which was controlled with military personnel from the FTC.
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