COCAINE FARMING DOWN IN PERU

WASHINGTON (AP) Coca farming is down dramatically in the two South
American countries that traditionally supply most of the drug crop,
but that success is offset by increases in Colombia, U.S. officials
said Wednesday.

Coca plants must be chemically processed to become the powdered or
crystallized cocaine, typically sold in the United States. For years,
Peru has been the leading supplier of coca plants, followed by Bolivia.

But both Peru and Bolivia have reduced the amount of farmland devoted
to coca plants as farmers abandon Andean coca farms in favor of legal
crops and U.S.-backed eradication efforts enjoy success, White House
drug policy coordinator Barry McCaffrey said.

"It is absolutely astonishing," McCaffrey said at a news
conference.

Coca grew on about half as much Peruvian land in 1998 as it did in
1996. And with fewer plants, the amount of cocaine Peruvian plants
could produce fell by 48 percent to 240 metric tons between 1995 and
1998, CIA analysts concluded.

Bolivia eradicated a record 28,660 acres of coca fields last year, or
almost a quarter of the crop.

Neighboring Colombia has traditionally been the seat of cocaine
manufacturing, with less emphasis on farming the raw material coca.

As production declined in Peru and Bolivia and kept coca from
Colombian processing outfits, Colombian coca farming increased 56
percent in 1996 and 1997, CIA analysis of satellite photos and other
data show.

The CIA is still analyzing Colombian data for 1998, but officials said
they expect to see further increases in coca farming there. So far,
increases in Colombian production have not filled the gap created by
decreased production in Peru and Bolivia, they said.

McCaffrey would not comment in detail about Colombia, pending final
analysis of the data.

"Clearly, coca production in Colombia is skyrocketing," McCaffrey
said.

McCaffrey credited enlightened self-interest in Peru and Bolivia for
reducing the coca crop, much of which ends up in the United States.

Farmers see the advantage of getting law enforcement off their backs,
and they like financial incentives offered by U.S.-backed anti-drug
programs, McCaffrey said. The governments of both countries have
worked hard to reduce economic dependence on drugs because they, too,
see the long-term benefits, he said.

"They believe it serves their own national interests," McCaffrey said.
"The U.S. has played a modest supporting role."