7/25/01 AP International US Official: More Drugs in Colombia by ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press Writer BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- With Washington set to deepen its involvement in Colombia's anti-drug efforts, a U.S. Embassy official said Wednesday that there are far more cocaine- and heroin-producing crops growing here than previously believed. Washington is considering giving more aid to Colombia, atop a $1.3 billion existing package aimed against leftist rebels and rival right-wing paramilitaries who tax drug crops that are exported to the United States and beyond. The most recent U.S. estimate, conducted at the end of last year, showed 336,400 acres of coca -- the prime ingredient of cocaine -- were being cultivated. In addition, Colombian police say 15,300 acres were being used to grow poppy, from which heroin is made. But now officials say they've found drug crops in areas of Colombia where none was believed to have existed before -- in eastern Vichada state and north, in Arauca state, among other places. ''We've underestimated the coca in Colombia. Everywhere we look there is more coca than we expected,'' a U.S. Embassy official told a small group of American journalists on condition of anonymity. It is unclear by how much the estimates may be short. Of the heroin crops, the official said: ''There is more out there than we can find right now.'' The official said a very pure grade of Colombian heroin has been arriving in the United States, particularly New York and Philadelphia. The belief that there are more drug crops than previously estimated means more work for U.S.-trained Colombian army troops and American crop-duster pilots contracted by the State Department. The U.S. Embassy official said the pace of fumigation will pick up ''very dramatically'' and that a leveling off of drug cultivation in Colombia can be expected in 18 months. The anti-drug offensive is aimed primarily at cutting into the main source of revenue of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. Washington made a clear sign Tuesday that U.S. participation will continue when the House approved $676 million to fight drugs and advance economic and political stability in Colombia and in its neighboring countries. Critics of Washington's aid say the United States is being sucked into another war, as in Vietnam or El Salvador. The first of dozens of new combat helicopters provided under the aid package will be arriving on Saturday from the United States, the U.S. Embassy said. Fourteen more U.S. crop dusters will also be arriving starting in September, which will more than double the current fleet in Colombia by next March. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> <FONT COLOR="#000099">Small business owners... Tell us what you think! </FONT><A HREF="http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/xYTolB/TM";><B>Click Here!</B></A> ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Please let us stay on topic and be civil. To unsubscribe please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs -Home Page- www.cia-drugs.org OM Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
