The governor of Nariño asked the government to help reduce drug gang related murders in his department. He also asked it to revise its policy on the spraying of illegal crops.
Governor Antonio Navarro Wolf expressed his concern over the recent wave of violence in Nariño, provoked in part by a fierce battle between paramilitary groups and guerrillas for control of territory and drug trafficking.
He said that the government policy of fumigating illegal crops and replacing them with legal ones wasn’t working. He said the policy hadn’t been been implemented in zones where crops such as bananas had been destroyed.
“There has been intense spraying, like there has been in all of the pacific coast, and the result is that [illegal] crops are resown faster than the fumigating is done, so we need a new integrated strategy when it comes to illegal crops,” he said.
Navarro Wolf added that he was worried about citizens affected by the loss of resources from pyramid schemes and sprayed crops but said he was more concerned about the violence in Nariño. He said a concerted intelligence mission was needed to put the breaks on crimes committed by drug gangs.
“What is urgently needed is to save lives, conflict between drug gangs is creating a slaughterhouse, especially in Tumaco,” he said.