TROOPS TARGET COLOMBIAN DRUG LABS

U.S.-Trained Soldiers Carry Out Search-And-Destroy Missions

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 interpret
satellite imagery for mission planning.

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 like raptors seeking their prey

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 sweep discovered a stash of 1,100 pounds of "coca paste," or unrefined
cocaine.

Three men were arrested when the troops first arrived.

Montoya strode through the coca field, M-16 assault rifle in hand, barking
orders to his troops.

After destroying the lab, along with the chemicals and coca paste, Montoya
boarded a helicopter and took off for the Tres Esquinas base.

"I am convinced that the military capacity of the FARC is what we have
seen," Montoya told reporters of the rebel response to the counterdrug
offensive, which began on Dec. 19 and which has resulted in the aerial
fumigation of some 72,000 acres of coca, according to Colombian and U.S.
officials.

The early success has far exceeded planners' expectations. Montoya, whose
troops and helicopters protect crop dusters from enemy gunfire, said he had
been charged with destroying some 59,000 acres of coca in two years, a
target which he surpassed only seven weeks after the so-called "Push into
the South" offensive began.

A temporary halt to the spraying campaign was declared 10 days ago.

At least 123,000 acres of coca is believed to still exist.

Montoya said his forces' presence on fumigation missions has dramatically
cut the risk to the crop dusters' pilots, who are subcontracted by the U.S.
State Department.

Previously, 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, Montoya said.