Tranquilandia

Tranquilandia, (Tranquility-land) was the name of the large cocaine processing laboratory located in the jungles of Caquetá, Colombia. Tranquilandia was constructed for the Medellín Cartel by José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, also known as the Mexican. Until its destruction in 1984 by the Colombian National Police assisted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the complex consisted of 19 laboratories, an independent water (Yari River) and electrical system along with dormitories for the laboratory workers. Processing supplies were flown in, and processed cocaine was flown out via any one of eight airstrips, constructed by the Cartel, for that specific purpose.

In 1983 the DEA placed satellite tracking devices on tanks of ether (a major chemical in cocaine processing) purchased by Francisco Javier Torres-Sierra, a Medellín Cartel associate, from an American chemical company located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. The DEA followed the ether into the jungles of Caqueta, Colombia, and their ultimate destination, Tranquilandia.

On March 10, 1984 units of the Colombian National Police, assisted by the DEA assaulted the complex. The operation concluded with the destruction of the complex and 13.8 metric tons of cocaine valued at $1.2 billion US.