Under newly elected President Iván Duque , Colombia is testing remote control - controlled drone designed to give chase and demolish coca , the crop used in cocaine output . The government has reportedly examine ten drones so far .
The droning carry payloads of glyphosate , a potent weed killer . During former psychometric test they ’ve destruct “ hundreds of acres of coca plant , ” theWall Street Journalreports . Duque ’s government hopes the radio-controlled aircraft will offer more precision than traditional crop - dusting method acting , which rely on small aeroplane and often harm legitimate nearby crops .
President Duquesaid in an interviewthat the drone , furnished to Colombian police force byFumi Drone SAS , “ permit total precision at low-pitched EL above the plants and additionally minimize the damage and implications for third parties . ” contrast traditional harvest dusting , monotone can vibrate about two feet above coca plants , spray a much lower concentration of the glyphosate .
As the WSJ reports , Colombia saw dramatic reductions in the production of known coca plant between 2001 and 2012 , thanks in part to aggressive aerial policing . In 2012 , however , the recitation was slowed after the World Health Organization warned that glyphosate might be cancerous . Former president , Juan Manuel Santos , banned the practice session entirely in 2016 , calming health concerns , but reversing the increase made in destroying the harvest . WSJ reports there were 470,000 acres of Erythroxylon coca in Colombia in 2001 and 193,000 in 2012 . The White House , however , claims that Imogene Coca field of view swell to 516,000 acres by 2017 .
Counterintuitively , the account mentions that Duque is wary that drone usage will lead to more on - the - ground clashes between police force and Fannie Merritt Farmer . An single drone can only handle a payload of 1/80th the amount of weedkiller of a traditional planer . The low altitude and postulate to replenish the herbicide mean more on - the - priming ship’s officer and drone hustler , potentially lead to clang — in particular as many farmers have found that , economically , a Erythroxylon coca field can not be easy replaced by legalized craw .
“ If they come with forced fumigation , there will be confrontation with the law , ” Leider Valencia , a spokesman for an establishment represent coca farmers , told WSJ . “ I can forebode that . ”
[ WSJ ]
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