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US Says Drug Eradication Efforts Up in Colombia; Results Unclear VOA News 2 Mar 2002 00:51 UTC 
A new State Department report says cocaine eradication efforts in Colombia increased last year but that the impact on overall production remains unclear.
The report released Friday says crop-spraying planes targeted more than 84,000 hectares of the coca plant in 2001 to rid Colombia of the raw material used for cocaine. Figures on coca production for 2001 were not released.
The report, however, says the pilots faced a tough task of reaching areas controlled by outlawed groups such as the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. The drug trade has helped finance the guerrillas, who have been at war with the government for the past 38 years. Earlier this week however, the Colombian government issued its own report saying cocaine production dropped for the first time last year.
The government in Bogota attributes the decline to the start of Plan Colombia, a U.S.-backed program aimed at helping the Andean nation combat the illegal drug trade in the Andean nation. Colombia is the world's leading producer of cocaine.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
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