Peru is world’s biggest grower of coca leaf
12 April 2012
Peru has overtaken Colombia as the main producer of coca leaf, the raw material for making cocaine.
More than 45 per cent of the world's coca crop now comes from there, the UN said. Colombia's output dropped by 16 per cent, Bolivia's increased one per cent and Peru's grew by 6.8 per cent. Overall, it dropped by 5.3 per cent.
Peru's coca crop has nearly doubled in the past decade and the director of its anti-drug agency, Romulo Pizarro, said he was frustrated at the increase despite attempts to control it. "Drug traffickers don't sit by with their arms crossed," he said. "Worldwide demand has increased."
