Police forces in Central and South America have arrested 14,260 people in a large-scale crackdown. According to Interpol, this is the largest anti-firearms operation ever coordinated by the international police service.
Members of twenty crime groups were arrested in the action. More than 8,200 firearms were also seized, Interpol reports. The police also seized large quantities of drugs worth at least 5.7 billion dollars (5.2 billion euros).
Fifteen countries worked together for the action, which is called ‘Operation Trigger IX’ and lasted until the beginning of this month.
During the operation, the links between the arms and drug crime were painfully exposed. The cooperation also revealed corruption, fraud, human trafficking, environmental crime and terrorist activities.
In Uruguay, 100,000 rounds of ammunition were seized that were traded internationally by two European citizens. That is the largest seizure ever in the country.
