Drugs found aboard warship
2004-04-17 08:50
Bogota, Colombia - Authorities announced an embarrassing discovery as Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo visited Colombia to discuss anti-drug strategies: a large stash of cocaine and heroin on the naval warship he is to visit.
Admiral Mauricio Soto, the commander of the Colombian Navy, said on Friday nearly 17kg of cocaine and 10kg of heroin were discovered the evening before in the engine room of the Gloria - a three-mast barque that is the pride of the Colombian Navy and which was to embark next month on a six-month trip to the United States and Europe.
Toledo is to board the Gloria in Cartagena, a port city on the Caribbean, on Saturday to dine with military commanders and discuss increased co-operation in the fight against drug trafficking.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe suspended the ship's entire 75-member crew pending an investigation and postponed the ship's voyage to the United States and Europe, saying he preferred the boat "rot in place instead ... of rotting the national honour". Three sailors were arrested.
"Given the gravity of the seizure of cocaine and heroin aboard the Gloria, the government considers it necessary to set an example to prevent members of the armed forces from continuing to stain the honour of the nation," Uribe said in a statement. His office, however, said Toledo would go aboard on Saturday as scheduled.
Power to corrupt
While visiting the presidential palace in Bogota, the Colombian capital, Toledo noted on Friday that the huge profits generated by trafficking have the power to corrupt.
"Drug traffickers have enough money to be creative and use people and organisations to export drugs," Toledo told reporters. "Nobody can deny that drug trafficking is a problem and the events on that ship are evidence of that."
Toledo, who arrived in Colombia Thursday night, and Uribe spoke on Friday on a range of issues, including ways to stem the flow of drugs, weapons and rebels across their porous border and boost trade.
The Peruvian president called for a meeting of all Andean nations in which coca is grown to pool their efforts in the war against drugs.
"We need to design a common strategy to battle drug trafficking," Toledo said, adding that consumer nations should also do more.
Toledo, marking his first presidential visit to Colombia, has expressed concern that Colombian rebels, who are heavily involved in drug trafficking, are slipping across the 1 626km border and destabilizing Peru. He said both sides needed to deploy more troops along their shared borders.
- AP