CRACKDOWN ON COCA MEETS LITTLE RESISTANCE

La Esperanza, Colombia --- Buoyed by unexpected success in fumigating coca
crops, a U.S.-financed offensive is targeting clandestine jungle labs in
search-and-destroy missions in the heart of the world's main
cocaine-producing region.

Colombian army troops, trained by Green Berets and guided by spy-plane and
satellite technology, have had only light skirmishes with leftist rebels
and rival right-wing paramilitary gunmen who earn millions of dollars from
"taxing" the cocaine industry in southern Colombia. U.S. officials say it
is too early to declare victory, but the Colombian commander of the
operations says rebel vows to combat the offensive have proved empty.

"We had expected tough fights when we went into these places. We thought
they would shoot down our helicopters and planes. But the engagements have
been routine," Colombian army Gen. Mario Montoya told reporters Monday at
Tres Esquinas army base, where U.S. intelligence experts have worked with
the Colombian military in a heavily guarded Joint Intelligence Center.

Montoya then flew into the war zone to direct the demolition of a lab that
produced millions of dollars worth of cocaine. After showing journalists
the lab --- hidden in a stand of jungle growth and containing packages of
purified cocaine, processing chemicals, microwave ovens and an electrical
generator --- Montoya's men placed explosive charges inside it and
retreated into the middle of a coca field.

"One, two, three!" Montoya called out. At three, a soldier pressed a
detonator, triggering a deafening explosion that enveloped the drug lab in
a fireball. It sent a column of black smoke into the air, where helicopter
gunships circled overhead.

Rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had overseen
the operation of the lab, which was capable of refining 2,200 pounds of
cocaine per week, Montoya said. But the guerrillas were nowhere to be seen
as the heavily armed government soldiers, their faces smeared with
camouflage paint, conducted sweeps into the surrounding jungle. One
discovered a stash of 1,100 pounds of "coca paste," or unrefined cocaine.

The counterdrug offensive began on Dec. 19 and has resulted in the aerial
fumigation of some 72,000 acres of coca, according to Colombian and U.S.
officials. At least 123,000 acres of coca is believed to still exist.

Montoya, whose troops and helicopters protect crop dusters from enemy
gunfire, said when the crop dusters flew unprotected, a plane was hit by
bullets on virtually every mission. Now, less than 1 percent of the planes
receive groundfire.