Peru was the world’s top coca grower in 2012, even though the area under cultivation shrank for the first time in seven years, a UN report said Tuesday.
The South American country had 60,400 hectares (150,000 acres) under coca cultivation in 2012, down from 62,500 (155,000 acres) the year before, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
But it replaced Colombia as the world’s top coca producer because the amount of land under coca cultivation there dropped to 48,000 hectares (118,000 acres). Coca leaves are the raw material of cocaine.
“There has been an important turning point with a 3.4 percent reduction, coming after seven years of continuing increases in those crops,” said Flavio Mirella, the UN office’s representative in Peru.
Peru produced 128,000 tons of coca leaf last year, almost all of it destined for the illegal cocaine trade, according to the UN study.
Mirella said that was enough leaf to fill 6,000 shipping containers, which if laid end to end would stretch out for 30 kilometers (18 miles).
The US Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that Peru produces 230 tons of cocaine a year.
Peru overtakes Colombia as world's top coca grower: UN
