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DATE=7/28/1999 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=COLOMBIA DRUGS NUMBER=5-43965 BYLINE=BILL RODGERS DATELINE=BOGOTA CONTENT= INTRO: Drug cultivation and trafficking have increased in Colombia - despite some gains made by the Colombian government. Colombia is asking the United States for more help to combat drugs - a fight that is complicated by the involvement of leftist guerrillas in the drug trade. VOA's Bill Rodgers has this background report from Bogota. TEXT: Colombia has long been a source for cocaine - but in recent years the cultivation, production and trafficking of the drug has grown dramatically. According to estimates, three fourths of the world's cocaine now comes from Colombia. U-S drug policy director Barry McCaffrey, who just concluded a two-day visit this week to this South American nation, says cocaine -- and now heroin -- are major problems. /// McCAFFREY ACT/// Some of the figures are just horrendous. Coca production has doubled in three years. It's continuing to explode in the growth areas - particularly in the south Putumayo and Caqueta provinces. Heroin production is now more than six metric tons a year, it comes out of Colombia and to our shock in the past two years more than half the heroin seized in America came out of Colombia and Mexico. ///END ACT/// Colombia - which is now receiving more U-S anti- narcotics aid than ever before - is making some gains. Colombian security forces seized a record amount of coca products last year -- some 57 metric tons -- and also destroyed 185 cocaine laboratories. Police arrested a number of important drug smugglers, including major figures of a key cocaine processing organization. Despite this, cocaine production continues to rise. A recent report by the U-S General Accounting Office - an investigative arm of the Congress - says coca cultivation has increased 50 percent in Colombia despite two years of extensive herbicide spraying. The head of Colombia's anti-narcotics division of the police, Colonel Leonardo Gallardo, agrees there has been an increase in coca cultivation - but says this has happened in areas where the police have not been able to operate. ///Gallardo Spanish Act/// He said in places where the police, army and other agencies of the state can conduct operations, drug traffickers have been hit with heavy blows. Colonel Gallardo said: we need to extend our operations into the other areas. The police officer was referring to territories controlled by leftist guerrillas - where coca cultivation and drug trafficking are allowed. Two main rebel groups - the FARC and the E-L-N - operate freely in more than 40 percent of Colombia's territory - including a vast demilitarized zone in the southern part of the country. The FARC and E-L-N deny any involvement in the drug trade. But there is evidence that these guerrilla groups receive anywhere from 200 to 600 million dollars a year from drug traffickers in return for protection. Right-wing paramilitary groups also are said to be heavily involved in the drug trade. All this money helps equip and arm these groups, and fuels the violence that is devastating this South American nation. U-S drug czar Barry McCaffrey warns this violence threatens not only Colombia's democracy but other countries as well. /// McCAFFREY ACT /// This is a very dangerous situation for Colombian democracy, the spillover effect is having an enormous impact on Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru. It's clearly a source of enormous violence and corruption directed at Colombian democratic authorities. Eighty percent of the drugs that come into the United States originate in Colombia or transit through this nation. /// END ACT /// The United States is providing 289 million dollars in anti-narcotics aid to Colombia this year - making Colombia the third largest recipient of American aid after Israel and Egypt. However, Colombia has asked this figure to be increased to 500 million dollars - and Mr. McCaffrey's office has proposed a regional anti-drug program that would cost one-billion dollars. Under the proposal, most of the money would be allocated to Colombia. (Signed) NEB/WFR/KL 28-Jul-1999 13:15 PM LOC (28-Jul-1999 1715 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .