Peru’s government is initiating a counter-narcotics plan by installing new bases along the country’s border area with Brazil and Colombia, Interior Minister Octavio Salazar said.
“We are creating an important base in Santa Rosa [in Loreto Department] for confiscations that we will do with Brazilian and Colombian police,” Salazar was quoted as saying by daily El Comercio.
The government is also aiming to increase immigration control posts. There are currently 13 in the tri-border area, and authorities are looking to have 50 posts.
Peru will also install counter-narcotics bases in Piura region’s Ayabaca province, Puno’s Sandia province, and Sihuas in Ancash region.
“When we have more area covered we will have a greater state presence and be able to seize more drugs,” Salazar said.
In 2009, Peru displaced Colombia as the world’s top producer of coca leaf, the raw material used to make cocaine. The country produced 119,000 tonnes of coca versus 103,100 tonnes in Colombia.
President Alan Garcia recently blamed the increase in Peru’s coca leaf production on a lack of aid from the U.S. government.
The U.S. has provided billions in aid to Colombia through Plan Colombia, a counter-narcotics campaign also aimed at curbing leftist guerrillas, while Peru has received a fraction of that amount.
