The head of the military group, First Commissioner Aminta Granera, said the amount corresponds to only the 50 tons of cocaine captured in the period.

During the last five years, 8,595 firearms in the hands of criminals were seized, and more than 11, 000 operations against local drug houses were carried out, giving an average of nearly 200 operations per month, he said.

The capture of weapons, the dismantling of criminal groups, and the fight against the sale of drugs helped to reduce the national homicide rate of 14 for every 100.000 inhabitants in 2006 to three out of every 100,000 at present, one of the lowest rates in the region, said the specialist.

The police has developed 20.5 million actions and has the support of 100,000 volunteers, people who are organized on a voluntary basis to help in the maintenance of security in the communities where they live.