Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the capture of 12 tonnes of cocaine - a historic record for the country, which according to UN data is the world's largest producer of this drug, the France press reported.

"We have never so far seized such quantity of cocaine since the fight against drug trafficking 40 years ago, so we have exceeded the total amount of cocaine caught last year, which was 317 tonnes in 2016 and 362 tonnes this year, said Santos.

Four hundred agents from the drug trafficking agency have captured cocaine in four simultaneous operations on farms in northwest Columbia.