Roughly 25,000 coca plants were found on just over 12 acres of land in Colombia’s central state of Boyaca, along with drug production laboratories, reported W Radio.
The land is believed to belong to criminal gangs working for drug traffickers, according to local media.
The crops and laboratories were discovered by troops belonging to the Armed Forces’ Special Energetic Batallion, and Vial Number 6.
Additionally discovered was a shotgun with the capacity for five 12-millimeter cartridges, 40 gallons of gasoline prepared with popular sugar cane juice, “guarapo,” used to process coca leaves, a gallon of hydrochloric acid, 50 kilos of urea, 25 kilos of grey cement, two fumigators and other drug making paraphernalia.
Boyaca is a region made up predominantly of farmers and “campesinos,” having land ripe for the cultivation for many crops.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published with grave factual errors. It was reported that 62,000 acres of coca plantations were uncovered in central Colombia, which is false by several orders of magnitude. There was no intent on the part of the writer or editing staff to sensationalize or invent a story. Rather, this was a simple, albeit egregious, breakdown in the fact-checking process, and one that Colombia Reports will do everything possible to prevent in the future. Our commitment to well-vetted, fact-based journalism remains as strong as always, and we would like to thank our active readership for helping us become aware of our mistake.