Government sets sights on reducing coca crops

Luis Alberto Pérez, head of the National Police’s Anti-Narcotics Force, said the goal is clear: to eradicate about 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of coca crops that are about 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the border with Ecuador by Oct. 15.

The presence of illegal coca plantations in Colombian departments on the Ecuadoran border have become a major target for authorities. Of the 158,147 acres (64,000 hectares) of illegal coca plantations nationwide, 109,873 acres (44,464 hectares) were in the border departments of Nariño and Putumayo, according to the 2011 Census of Coca Crops in Colombia report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).