Police in Latin America have seized cocaine and other drugs worth $5bn in an operation lasting three weeks and spanning 15 countries.

They also seized more than 8,000 illicit firearms and carried out almost 15,000 arrests.

Police forces from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south exchanged information in the operation, which was co-ordinated by Interpol.

Interpol said the arrests had disrupted the workings of several powerful gangs.

Dubbed Trigger IX, the international effort was mainly aimed at fighting the trafficking of illicit firearms.

Experts from the participating countries gathered at a centre of operations in Foz do Iguaçu, a city on Brazil’s border with Argentina and Paraguay, from 12 March to 2 April.

There, they exchanged intelligence on the workings of international crime gangs, such as First Capital Command (PCC), and Mara Salvatrucha with the aim of disrupting the flow of illicit firearms.

Interpol has long warned that the smuggling of weapons strengthens the gangs’ power and further fuels their criminal activities.

“The fact that an operation targeting illicit firearms resulted in such massive drugs seizures is further proof, if needed, that these crimes are intertwined,” Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock said of the 203 tonnes of cocaine and other drugs found.

Interpol said that its operation had led to the seizure of large amounts of ammunition even in countries which have so far largely not been associated with large-scale gun violence.

Police in Uruguay secured 100,000 pieces of ammunition, the largest ever amount seized in the country.

It had been smuggled into the country by two European nationals, highlighting the need for international intelligence-sharing, Interpol said.