Colombia to use drones to fumigate coca leaf with herbicide

By Reuters

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday authorized the use of drones to fumigate coca leaves at low altitude using the herbicide glyphosate as part of the Andean nation's battle to eliminate the plant's use in cocaine production. Santos, who leaves office in August, approved the measure a day after the United States said Colombia's coca cultivation had increased 11 percent to 209,000 hectares (516,450 acres) in 2017 and potential cocaine output had risen 19 percent to 921 metric tons a year. Colombia, one of the world's largest cocaine producers, suspended aerial fumigation using glyphosate in 2015 after the World Health Organization linked it to cancer.