Colombia uses drones to spray coca to prevent them from being synthesized into cocaine

We often hear about using drones to capture images from above or recently used in delivery or delivery of medical items in remote areas. Under the hands of the Colombian government, the drone has a new feature that follows the seek and destroy method , detecting and spraying pesticides on coca growing areas to extract cocaine.

According to a new government report by President Ivan Duque, they are currently using 10 drones that carry glyphosate , a powerful herbicide, to spray down coca plantations, the initial results show Positive results when these drones destroyed dozens of hectares of illegal coca plantations.

The Coca tree is a shrub, whose scientific name is Erythroxylon coca , which often grows into bushes or carpentry in tropical climates (between 500 and 2000 meters above sea level). Coca leaves can be harvested for 20 years.

Using a drone will help the government handle faster and more accurately when spraying coca.

Leaves of Coca tree are often chewed or cooked into fresh tea as to drink. According to the cultural traditions of countries in South America, people here often chew Coke leaves with a little alkaline ash as a stimulant and enhance their tolerance to living above altitude. Cocaine leaves extracted from Cocaine.

Cocoa paste is the first step in the process of extracting cocaine from ccca leaves. The ingredient of coca paste contains about 50-90% cocaine sufate and toxic impurities such as kerosen and sulfuric acid. These are substances used in the processing of cocaine products.

During the years from 2001 to 2012, the area of ​​coca cultivation was significantly reduced thanks to the campaign of using herbicide spraying aircraft to plant varieties. However, since 2012, WHO warns that glyphosate is likely to cause cancer, Colombia has gradually reduced its use and by 2016 it is completely banned from spraying glyphosate. And according to the report, it is because of the ban on the use of herbicides, the illegal coca plantation area of ​​nearly 80,000 hectares in 2012 soared to more than 200,000 hectares in 2017.

The use of drones will help the government handle faster and more accurately because drones will only fly in coca trees, so when spraying herbicides will be much more accurate than using spray from the height of the plane.

However, the use of drones also raises the risk of more clashes between police and coca growers because the drone's capacity to contain herbicides is very small, in fact. There was a display of white-and-white drugs like airplanes, according to calculations, which were only 1/80 compared to airplanes. And as far as what the representative of an organization representing coca watchers said, on the side of the farmers they were prepared to have but collided with the police.