Peasants protested in Peru's coca-producing Apurímac-Ene River Valley after army troops fired on a public transport microbus, injuring nine. A state of emergency permits impunity.
The US government has determined that Bolivia now has fewer coca plantations but it is producing more cocaine because traffickers are using a more “efficient” process known as the “Colombian method,” according to an interview with a diplomat in La… Read moreBolivia: coca production down, cocaine production up?
In a joint anti-drug operation code-named Armagedon, Peruvian military and National Police troops carried out a series of raids in the remote Putumayo river valley along the Colombian border this week, arresting some 40, destroying four cocaine laboratories, and seizing large quantities of cocaine sulfate and harvested cannabis. The majority of those detained were Colombian nationals, and authorities said they suspect the presence of "dissident" FARC units, who are trying to establish the zone as a staging ground to keep alive their insurgency. More than 350 troops have been deployed in the operation, with five helicopters and three planes as well as boats. The operation is being coordinated with Colombian security forces, who are carrying out similar missions on their side of the Río Putumayo. (Photo via El Comercio)
