Colombia seizes 2.7 tons of cocaine

CARTAGENA, Colombia, March 19 (UPI) -- Colombian security forces have seized 2.7 tons of cocaine with a street value of $800 million from an Italian-registered ship in the port of Cartagena.

Police said they believe the cocaine belonged to the far-right United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, paramilitary group.

The ship's manifest said its next port of call was to have been in Mexico.

Since January, three tons of cocaine have been seized in the Caribbean port city of Cartagena, 685 miles north of the capital, Bogota, the BBC reported.

Government officials claim 40 percent of Colombia's drug trade is controlled by paramilitary guerilla groups.