France's foreign minister vowed Saturday to "defeat" rapidly spreading drug trafficking in Europe, as he spoke to AFP on a trip to Colombia, a major narcotics producer.
Jean-Noel Barrot is in the South American country for a summit between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which will take place in the city of Santa Marta on Sunday and Monday.
Speaking in nearby Puerto Antioquia, a port terminal in northwestern Colombia where the powerful Clan del Golfo cartel operates, Barrot said France was "resolved to defeat trafficking of all kinds -- not just in drugs -- which raises public health (and safety) concerns."
He said Paris would not sit by and watch "the explosion of drug trafficking in Latin America, in the Caribbean, and also in Europe, where we are now seeing not only drugs flooding in, but also traffickers moving around and setting up laboratories."
"All of this must stop," he said, adding that the French government planned to open a regional academy in the Dominican Republic that will train investigators and customs officers to help combat organized crime.
The training program, planned for next year, will take place in cooperation "with Colombia in particular, the (world's) top cocaine producer," Barrot said.
The EU-CELAC summit risks being overshadowed by no-shows and disputes, with Colombia accusing the United States of pressuring countries to skip the event.
Ties between Washington and Bogota have soured since US President Donald Trump ordered a military deployment in the Caribbean to combat a surge in drug trafficking that he has blamed partly on his leftist Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro.
Barrot repeated his "concern" about regional tensions, saying the US deployment had "disregarded the rules of international law and the law of the sea."
