US EditionColombia will use drones to destroy coca crops as it grapples with record cocaine production
Colombia will deploy drones to spray glyphosate on coca fields to enhance eradication safety and efficiency amid a 261,000-hectare coca cultivation surge, UNODC reports.
- On Monday, Colombia announced it will resume spraying coca with weed killer using drones, and Justice Minister Andrés Idárraga said the campaign will start Thursday.
- Rising coca cultivation and diplomatic pressure have increased as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates 261,000 hectares in 2024, while the United States imposed sanctions and non-cooperation listing.
- Idárraga said the drones will fly no further than 1.5 meters from targets and a single drone can clear about a hectare every 30 minutes in gang-controlled areas.
- President Gustavo Petro has insisted security forces intercept record cocaine shipments, while Andrés Idárraga argued drone use will protect Colombian security forces in armed group areas.
- The plan revives an idea first floated in 2018 by Iván Duque and reverses Colombia's 2015 ban on aerial fumigation after the World Health Organization listed glyphosate as a carcinogen, amid environmental activists' warnings.
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56 Articles
Colombia to deploy drones to destroy coca plantations
Colombia will begin deploying drones to destroy coca crops, as the country grapples with record cocaine production that has fueled violence across South America and built tension with the Trump administration. Coca production has ballooned under Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has taken a light approach to drug interdictions, with the number of hectares planted almost doubling between 2016 and 2024. US President Donald Trump said Monday t…
Colombia resumes the destruction of cocaine plantations from the air after ten years. With drones and the herbicide glyphosate, the government wants to take action against the massive increase in cocaine production.
Health and ecosystem concerns from the use of glyphosate
The US accuses the Bogotá government of not doing enough to stop the drug smuggling. Indeed, cocaine production has exploded and herbicides are being sprayed again.
Colombia will start pulverizing glyphosate herbicide with drones flying at low altitude "this week", announced the government this afternoon, in the middle of the US pressure to strengthen its anti-drug policies. Following the recommendation of the Ministry of Health and a judicial order, the country suspended Glyphosate air pulverization in 2015 due to its concerns about its impact on human health and water resources.
Associated Press News
Colombia will use drones to destroy coca crops as it grapples with record cocaine production
Colombia says it will use drones to resume spraying of coca crops with a weed killer as authorities grapple with record levels of cocaine production that have fueled tensions with the Trump administration.
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