Colombia Police Raids Destroy 17 Drug Labs

BOGOTA, Colombia — Police destroyed 17 cocaine-processing laboratories in a series of raids deep in the southeastern Colombian jungle, police said Friday.

Anti-narcotics police carried out the raids in a region known as San Jose de Guaviare and destroyed 17 drug laboratories and confiscated chemicals and equipment used to process cocaine, a police spokesman said.

In the Caribbean port town of Cartagena, meanwhile, security forces seized 375 pounds of pure cocaine that was being transported in an 18-wheel truck to a clandestine airport where it was destined for export to the United States, the spokesman said.