AFP announces Pacific drug taskforce

In May, AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett announced a joint investigations team with New Zealand Police to gather evidence about illicit drug shipments crossing the Pacific to Australia.

Team to work from Bogotá

The taskforce would base AFP officers in Bogotá, Colombia, working with Colombian, US, INTERPOL and Mexican authorities to curb drug flows through the Pacific.

Colombian police deny knowledge

Colombia's anti-narcotics department told El Tiempo it has no recorded data showing protocols, agreements or procedures relating to the taskforce, five months after its announcement.

No intelligence shared yet

The Colombian anti-narcotics department said drug-related intelligence had not been shared with the AFP and no operational activities such as seizures or arrests had been made in cooperation.

Only a letter of intent exists

The department said only a letter of intent signed by PNC Major General Jesús Alejandro Barrera Peña and the AFP in August outlines a framework for cooperation and information exchange.

“The instrument does not identify the so-called 'IJIT', nor does it establish specific functions, responsibilities or procedures for this department in relation to said mechanism.”

Agreement made with different department

The taskforce agreement was made with the PNC's Office of International Relations and Cooperation, not the anti-narcotics department that handles frontline drug policing operations.

AFP says taskforce not yet operational

The AFP told the ABC the joint investigations team was not yet operational but an annex agreement made in August would allow it to focus on transnational organised crime networks.

Criminal investigations department unaware

Colombia's criminal investigations department said it had no data determining whether the AFP was involved in one hundred seventy four drug trafficking investigations between January and October this year.

AFP withholds budget details

The AFP declined to release documents about the taskforce's budget and operational commitments, citing national security and international relations concerns in a freedom of information response.

Seizures made but AFP role unclear

The AFP says seventeen tonnes of illicit drugs have been seized by local and international police since January, but most offshore seizures were made in French Polynesia with no AFP physical involvement.