Walters Says Stick with Plan Colombia August 12, 2004
News Summary
Plan Colombia, which involves seizing cocaine, destroying cocoa crops, and going after drug traffickers in Colombia, has had little impact on cocaine coming into the United States. But U.S. drug czar John Walters is recommending that the government continue to support the five-year program, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported Aug. 8."We have a history in the United States of not following through on programs like this," Walters said.
The U.S. has provided Colombia with $3.3 billion to train, equip, and provide intelligence to the country's forces for fighting the war on drugs.
The program has resulted in an increase in drug seizures, with 48 tons of cocaine confiscated in Colombia last year compared with 8 tons in 1999. In addition, 120 drug traffickers have been extradited to the United States for trial.
The aerial eradication of coca plants has also reduced cultivation. The amount of cultivated coca crops throughout Colombia dropped 33 percent, from 420,000 acres in 2001 to 280,000 acres in 2003.
However, there is concern over the effectiveness of the eradication program. According to Colombia's counternarcotics police, 85 percent of sprayed crops were immediately replanted by coca farmers. In addition, farmers have begun planting in national parks, where fumigation is prohibited.
Although Walters said fumigation is important and effective, he acknowledged that the money could be used elsewhere. "We need to make sure other areas are well-funded, such as interdiction," he said.
Walters said that drug traffickers have tons of cocaine in stock along transport routes which enables them to keep prices low, and that cocaine prices on U.S. streets have remained the same. "Thus far, we have not seen a change of availability in the United States," he said.
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