BOGOTÁ, Aug 27 — Colombia’s new hard-right government wants to use prison ships adrift at sea to lock up people it considers highly dangerous criminals, a defence ministry source told AFP yesterday.

President Abelardo de la Espriella took office earlier this month, vowing to come down hard on armed groups in Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer.

The US-backed millionaire campaigned on a pledge to bomb guerrillas and build so-called “mega-prisons” in the style of El Salvador’s leader, Nayib Bukele.

During a security council meeting, the president asked for the prison ship proposal to become a reality, AFP’s source said.

The Colombian Navy is in charge of seeing the project through, the source added, without providing further details.

Prison ships supposedly prevent detained people from escaping and limit contact with dangerous individuals and the rest of the world.

Humanitarian watchdogs warn that this form of incarceration breaches human rights.

Colombian ex-leader Alvaro Uribe in 2007 sent drug leaders aboard prison ships in the Atlantic and Pacific before their extradition to the US.

De la Espriella also wants to forge ever closer ties with the US and Israel to achieve his security goals.

On August 12, Colombia authorised joint US bombardments on its own soil as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking. — AFP