Tranquilandia, was the name of the large cocaine processing laboratory located in the jungles of Caquetá

Caquetá

Caquetá may refer to:* Caquetá River, a river in Colombia* Caquetá Territory, a former territory of Colombia* Caquetá Department, a department of Colombia...

, Colombia. Tranquilandia was constructed for the Medellín Cartel

Medellín Cartel

The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...

 by José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, also known as the Mexican. Until its destruction in 1984 by the Colombian National Police

Colombian National Police

The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military of Colombia , it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. They are the largest police force in Colombia...

 assisted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA

DEA

DEA is the commonly used acronym for the Drug Enforcement Administration, a United States law enforcement agency.DEA or Dea may also refer to:- Organizations :* DEA , UK development education charity...

), 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

Ether

Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group — an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups — of general formula R–O–R'. A typical example is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "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.

Popular depiction

• In the 2006 movie-based game Scarface: The World Is Yours
  Scarface: The World is Yours
  Scarface: The World Is Yours is a video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games. The game is based on and is a quasi-sequel to the 1983 motion picture Scarface starring Al Pacino reprising his role as Tony Montana, with André Sogliuzzo providing Montana's...
  
  , near the end of the game, the main character was asked by his partner to liberate a vast drug facility in an island offshore Bahamas (the Islands in the game) for him. It was named Tranquilandia just as Medellín Cartel's facility.