Ecobreves – PERU: Cocaine Contaminates the Amazon

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LIMA, Jul 28 2003 (IPS) - The Peruvian Amazon is suffering major environmental deterioration as a result of the production and trafficking of cocaine, said experts gathered for a seminar in the central-west city of Pucallpa, in the heart of the illegal drug production area. In Peru, some 36,000 hectares are cultivated with illegal crops, and to plant one hectare of coca bush, the raw material of cocaine, four to five hectares of forest are burned, says David Lluncor, head of the National Ucayali University, which hosted the seminar.

Other experts reported that the chemicals needed to produce the cocaine paste end up contaminating the soil and rivers, and that of the 2.3 million hectares of Amazon forest destroyed in the last few years, 25 percent were for coca production.