DEA Briefs & Background, Law Enforcement, Major Operations, Operations Conquistador & Columbus

Operation Conquistador was simultaneously launched on March 10, 2000, in Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Anguila, St. Martin, British Virgin Islands, Barbuda, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Aruba, Curacao, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Operation Conquistador embodied the overall objective of developing effective regional strategies needed to disrupt drug trafficking activities and criminal organizations. More significantly, Operation Conquistador united 26 nations in the Caribbean and source countries in a common goal.

Operation Conquistador's main objectives were:

To develop a cohesive and cooperative environment between source and transit countries.

To integrate within each country all counterdrug entities.

To continue development of a comprehensive regional strategy.

To facilitate the exchange of information between the participating countries with the use of the Unified Caribbean On-line Regional Network which currently links 25 countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America, providing the foundation for many countries to exchange information on tactical and strategic initiatives and investigations through high speed computers and sophisticated imagery capabilities.

To mentor and train counter-drug entities in host countries.

To impact and disrupt drug trafficking organizations in the Caribbean area and source countries.

Command and control of the operation was executed from the DEA Caribbean Field Division in San Juan, PR, with forward command posts in Trinidad & Tobago and Dominican Republic. The U.S. Coast Guard provided expanded presence of interdiction assets throughout the Caribbean and executed air and maritime command and control of sea and airborne drug interdiction assets from all countries. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms conducted traces of all seized weapons. The operation concluded on March 26, 2000.

The following are the results of Operation Conquistador:

2,331 Arrests
7,376 Searches of residences, vessels, vehicles and aircraft
Seizure of 4,966.6 Kilograms of Cocaine
Eradication of Coca with a production potential of 25,790 Kilograms
Destruction of 5,402.7 Kilograms of Coca leaf
Seizure of 55.6 Kilograms of Heroin
Seizure of 14.3 Kilograms of Morphine base
Seizure and destruction of 362.5 Metric Tons of Marijuana
Seizure of 3,370 Dosage Units of Dangerous Drugs
Seizure of 73.4 Kilograms of Hash oil
Destruction of 94 Cocaine laboratories
Seizure of 128.8 Metric Tons of Solid Chemical Precursors
Seizure of 39,094.8 Gallons of Liquid Chemical Precursors
Seizure of 13 Boats
Seizure of 172 Vehicles
Seizure of 83 Weapons
Seizure of 17,340 rounds of ammunition
Seizure of $132,772 U.S. Currency
Seizure of $2,160,845 in assets and properties

As a precursor to Operation Conquistador, Operation Columbus, concluding in October 1999, was a multi-national, regional enforcement effort involving Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama, and the island nations of the Caribbean. This operation focused on air, land, and maritime interdiction, eradication and clandestine airstrip denial. The final arrest and seizure statistics for Operation Columbus were unprecedented for this region, resulting in more than 1,290 arrests, as well as the seizure of 900 kilograms of cocaine and nine kilograms of heroin. Over 38 weapons, 26 vehicles, 27 vessels, three laboratories and one aircraft were also seized. In addition, 1,097 metric tons of marijuana were eradicated. In the end, Operation Columbus struck a solid blow against the operations of Caribbean-based drug trafficking groups.