Pubdate: Sat, 08 May 1999 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Copyright: Guardian Media Group 1999 Contact: http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Author: Jeremy Lennard in Bogota COLOMBIA SHUTS COCAINE COMPLEX WITH GUN BATTLE Three hundred Colombian police officers have fought a day-long gun battle in an effort to shut down a huge cocaine producing complex run by illegal rightwing paramilitaries. 'This is the most serious offensive for many years against paramilitary groups involved in drug trafficking,' the police chief, General Jose Rosso Serrano, said of Wednesday's battle. 'We will not shirk from attacking anyone - be they guerrillas or paramilitaries who is involved in the drugs trade.' The raid constitutes the first major undertaking by the state in recent years to go after the paramilitaries - a commitment President Andres Pastrana has made to advance peace negotiations with the country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). It is also tacit acknowledgment that the paramilitaries are as much involved, if not more, in the drugs trade as the guerrillas. The complex, deep in the jungle in the paramilitary stronghold of Magdalena Medio province, included three processing laboratories and a packing plant and was capable of producing eight tons of cocaine a month. Police also found accommodation for 120 people, a ton of cocaine and huge quantities of raw materials. Police estimate the traffickers invested at least $5m (UKP3m) in the complex, supporting fears that the paramilitaries and their allies have essentially taken over where Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel left off in the early 90s. Despite repeated claims that the paramilitaries are deeply involved in both cocaine and heroin production, anti-narcotics policy at home and in the US has long avoided the issue. The US gives significant aid - UKP180m this year - and technical assistance to fight the war on drugs in Colombia, but efforts have been directed almost exclusively at eradicating coca cultivations in the guerrilla-controlled south. With the Farc insisting that peace talks can move forward only if the government shows results in its promised clampdown on paramilitary groups, this week's raid marks a significant switch in the approach of law enforcers. 'This is a serious setback to paramilitary groups involved in drug trafficking, and it is only the first,' said the head of the anti-narcotics division, Colonel Leonardo Gallego. 'My men will be continuing operations to dismantle other paramilitary laboratories.' - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea