Colombia: June 27, 2005

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While coca (the raw material for cocaine) production is down seven percent last year (to 200,000 acres), it is up 17 percent (to 69,000 acres) in Bolivia and 14 percent (to 125,000 acres) in Peru. Thus Columbia is still the major producer of coca, with 56 percent of the world total. Peru accounts for 28 percent and Bolivia 16 percent. Satellite photography makes it possible to calculate the size of the coca crop with great accuracy. This shows that the coca crops are being planted in more remote, and distributed, locations. This makes it more difficult for the government eradication brigades to reach and destroy the coca fields.