Colombian police Sunday said they had seized eight tons of cocaine from the country’s most active criminal syndicate, the Usuga clan.

In a statement, police said they found the drugs hidden on a banana plantation near the border with Panama, in Colombia’s northwest Uraba region.

“The biggest seizure of drugs in history. A hit against criminals,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Twitter.

Police said they arrested three people in the operation, which involved 50 commandos and two Black Hawk helicopters, but another three escaped. Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said nearly 1.5 tons of the cocaine was packaged and “ready to go out.”

Each year, police said, the Usuga clan sends tons of cocaine into the United States. U.S. authorities have offered a $5 million reward for the capture of the gang’s leader.

Colombia is the leading coca growing country in the world, and produces 442 tons of cocaine from the crop each year, according to the United Nations.

Costa Rica authorities expect record year for cocaine trafficking

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security (MSP) and Drug Control Police (PCD) are expecting a record level of cocaine trafficking through the country and its territorial waters this year, due in large part to increases in production in the source countries of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, officials said in late March.

The MSP estimates that some 1,700 tons of cocaine will flow through Costa Rica and its territorial waters this year, a nearly 42 percent increase from the 1,200 tons estimated to have been trafficked through Costa Rican territory in 2015 and 2.5 times as much as the 670 tons believed to have been trafficked through the country in 2014.

Last year, Cost Rican authorities were able to seize just 15 tons – less than 1 percent – of the estimated 1,200 tons believed to have flown through the country’s territory.

According to the PCD, the amount of land dedicated to coca production – the plant from which cocaine is derived – in producer countries has increased, as well as the quantity and quality of the harvest.

Almost 90 percent of cocaine is destined for the United States and Europe, placing Costa Rica directly between producer countries in South America and narco-traffickers’ largest target market, the U.S., to the north.

Reporting by VOA and The Costa Rica Star.