Since January 1, the Bolivian Army and National Police have eradicated 960 hectares of illegal coca crops that would have been used to make cocaine.
Since January 1, the Bolivian Army and National Police have eradicated 960 hectares of illegal coca crops that would have been used to make cocaine, Felipe Cáceres, Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, said on March 25.
Soldiers and police concentrated their eradication efforts in the tropical regions of Yungas and Cochabamba; they’re also searching for illegal coca plantations in natural parks and ecological reserves nationwide to prevent the country’s resources from being exploited by narcotraffickers.
In Bolivia, farmers working on behalf of drug trafficking organizations cultivated 23,000 hectares to grow coca in 2013, the smallest number of hectares used for such purposes since 2002, according to the International Narcotics Control Board. Bolivia grows limited amounts of legal coca, which is used in teas, medicine, and during Andean religious rites.
Colombian National Army destroys 4 cocaine-producing laboratories
The Colombian National Army’s Infantry Battalion No. 47’s General Francisco de Paula Vélez Unit destroyed two cocaine laboratories belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and two others operated by Clan Úsuga.
The unit, which is part of the Army’s Seventeenth Brigade, collectively seized 88 kilograms of chopped coca leaves, 390 gallons of gasoline and 171 kilograms of urea among other supplies and equipment. Each laboratory could produce more than 80 kilograms of cocaine monthly; thus the raids dealt a severe financial blow to the FARC and Clan Úsuga, as each kilogram of cocaine was worth about $80 million Colombian pesos (about $31,551 dollars).
The Army didn’t immediately report the names of the three suspects they captured during the raids. Three of the laboratories were in the Department of Chocó, while the other was in the Department of Antioquia.
Since January 1, the Bolivian Army and National Police have eradicated 960 hectares of illegal coca crops that would have been used to make cocaine, Felipe Cáceres, Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, said on March 25.
Soldiers and police concentrated their eradication efforts in the tropical regions of Yungas and Cochabamba; they’re also searching for illegal coca plantations in natural parks and ecological reserves nationwide to prevent the country’s resources from being exploited by narcotraffickers.
In Bolivia, farmers working on behalf of drug trafficking organizations cultivated 23,000 hectares to grow coca in 2013, the smallest number of hectares used for such purposes since 2002, according to the International Narcotics Control Board. Bolivia grows limited amounts of legal coca, which is used in teas, medicine, and during Andean religious rites.
Colombian National Army destroys 4 cocaine-producing laboratories
The Colombian National Army’s Infantry Battalion No. 47’s General Francisco de Paula Vélez Unit destroyed two cocaine laboratories belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and two others operated by Clan Úsuga.
The unit, which is part of the Army’s Seventeenth Brigade, collectively seized 88 kilograms of chopped coca leaves, 390 gallons of gasoline and 171 kilograms of urea among other supplies and equipment. Each laboratory could produce more than 80 kilograms of cocaine monthly; thus the raids dealt a severe financial blow to the FARC and Clan Úsuga, as each kilogram of cocaine was worth about $80 million Colombian pesos (about $31,551 dollars).
The Army didn’t immediately report the names of the three suspects they captured during the raids. Three of the laboratories were in the Department of Chocó, while the other was in the Department of Antioquia.