Good news from Colombia drug war masks increased production from Peru and Bolivia

Source: St. Petersburg Times

Just as the Obama administration is stepping up its anti-narcotics effort in Mexico, there's some good news from Colombia's coca fields.

The United Nations says Colombia's cocaine production in 2008 dropped the most in a decade, down 28 percent. Seizures of cocaine, totaling a staggering 200 tons, were also up 57 percent in Colombia, a sign of how police efforts have improved radically in recent years.

All of this may sound like extraordinary progress. Until you hear that production of cocaine is rising in Peru and Bolivia again — 4 percent and 9 percent, respectively — partially erasing the gains in Colombia.

"While the 2008 drop in Colombia is encouraging, however, it is not as remarkable as it sounds," said Adam Isacson, a Colombia expert at the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C. He points out that last year the U.N. reported a 27 percent jump in coca cultivation. "We're right back at the levels we saw in 2003-2006. There's been no breakthrough."



Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/world/article1013929.ece

There are never enough resources to cover all the bases. An example would be stopping the import of drugs into the country. If the resources are deployed to Florida then Louisiana and Texas become the new ports - or wherever the DEA ain't. It is a lost cause - kinda like the useless "War on Terror."