U.S. DETECTS MORE COCA BEING GROWN

Despite widespread spraying of defoliants financed by the U.S., total
acreage of coca cultivated in Colombia rose 19% in 2006 compared with
2005, according to an annual survey by the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

The report stresses that much of the gain may be attributed to an
expansion of the area included in the survey, which is done by
satellite, airplane and on the ground.

The White House said the increase was due partly to "rapid crop
reconstitution," the use of smaller plots in more remote areas and
farmers' increasing use of national parks, where aerial spraying is
forbidden.