大象传媒

Police in Latin America have seized cocaine and other drugs worth $5bn in an operation lasting three weeks and spanning 15 countries.

They also seized more than 8,000 illicit firearms and carried out almost 15,000 arrests.

Police forces from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south exchanged information in the operation, which was co-ordinated by Interpol.

Interpol said the arrests had disrupted the workings of several powerful gangs.

Ioan Grillo is a journalist and author of, Blood, Gun, Money: How America arms Gangs and Cartels.

(Picture: Shows some of the people arrested and firearms confiscated as part of operation Trigger IX. Credit: Interpol.)