Coca cultivation in Colombia [2] dropped by 18% in 2008, following a 27% rise in 2007, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says in a new report issued June 19. Cocaine production in Colombia, the world's largest producer of the drug, also fell 28% from a year earlier. These declines were partly offset by increases in coca cultivation in Bolivia [3], up 6%, and in Peru [4], up 4.5%, the report said. UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa warned: "Peru must guard against a return to the days when terrorists and insurgents profited from drugs and crime." (NYT [5], BBC News [6], June 19)
