Cape Verde only war for independence against Portugal between 1974 and 1975, the efforts of the Caboverdean Armed Forces have now been turned to combating international drug trafficking. In 2007, together with the Cape Verdean Police, they carried out Operation Flying Launch ("Operacão Lancha Voador"a), a successful operation to put an end to a drug trafficking group which smuggled cocaine from Colombia to the Netherlands and Germany using the country as a reorder point. The operation took more than three years, being a secret operation during the first two years, and ended in 2010. Although located in Africa, Cape Verde has always
National emblem of Cape Verde symbolizes righteousness and uprightness which constitute the "key vault" of Cape Verdean constitution. The equilateral triangle symbolizes unity, equality and people's civil rights recognized by the democratic system. The torch symbolizes freedom gained after many years of struggle. The sea symbolizes nostalgia. The palms symbolize victory won in the struggle for national independence, and the stars represent the ten islands that form the archipelago of Cape Verde. National emblem of Cape Verde The national emblem of Cape Verde contains a circle within which is written the name of the nation in Portuguese. Within the circle are a torch and triangle,