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MANAGUA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A captain in Nicaragua's army died Thursday in a firefight with drug traffickers in the country's Southern Caribbean region, the army announced in a statement on Friday.
The statement said that Captain Manuel Javier Gutierrez and his soldiers had engaged a drug trafficking gang which was seeking to establish a base in the region.
Tragically, Gutierrez lost his life in the municipality of Punta Gorda during an operation to track and capture gang members in the area.
"The Army of Nicaragua will continue following the containment wall strategy, which is the first strategic ring of our national security. It has as its objective to contain, divert and capture a large quantity of drugs ...to avoid the circulation of the same in populatd areas. This will avoid serious impacts on our security," read the statement.
Central American countries are an important corridor for drug, weapon and people smuggling. The Nicaraguan army is currently carrying out a number of campaigns as part of its "containment wall" strategy to fight back against these crimes.
