Colombian Army strikes ELN stronghold and seizes marijuana shipment in Cauca and Huila

In the Cauca department, troops of the 29th Brigade of the Colombian Army engaged ELN militants in the village of La Despensa, Mercaderes. The clash resulted in the death of Lieutenant Jhon Maicol López Colorado, the capture of two suspected ELN members, and the seizure of weapons, grenades, ammunition and a cocaine‑production laboratory, weakening the group’s financial base.

In the neighboring Huila department, the 27th Light Infantry Battalion, supported by local police, intercepted a taxi carrying 131 kilograms of high‑purity marijuana in the village of El Cedro, Pitalito. A suspect was arrested and the haul, linked to the GAO‑r Estructura Teófilo Forero criminal network, was seized, representing an estimated loss of 196.5 million Colombian pesos to the group’s illicit finances.