The constant eradication of coca in Colombia has reduced the cocaine
production and the income of criminal organizations, U.S. drugs czar
John Walters said Thursday.
According to Walters, Colombia still produced 600 tons of cocaine in 2007, which is exactly the same as in 2006. The purity of the cocaine has gone down though, he said at the U.S. embassy in Bogotá.
"Although production has barely changed between 2006 and 2007, it is still 25 percent lower than the 900 tons produced in 2001," the boss of the Drugs and Narcotics Center said.
According to date of the center, 2001 was a year the coca production in Colombia peaked. If you compare the production with that of 1999 the production has stayed the same.
The United Nations released a reports a few months ago, claiming the cultivation of coca fields has gone up 24 percent last year, something the Colombian government fiercely denies.
Part of the United States' 'war on drugs' is Plan Colombia, a multi-billion joint effort to eradicate coca production through fumigation and manuel desctruction of coca fields in Colombia.
