Bolivia and Peru Seek to Combat Drug Trafficking

The Bolivian Vice-Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances Felipe Caceres announced Wednesday that the Bolivian and Peruvian governments intend to install aviation radars along the border in order to intercept the increase in illegal drug trafficking via airplanes.

"The radars provide accurate information on the flights that occur at the border and on their legal status," Caceres said through the ministry's website.

The chief of Peru's Interior Ministry antidrug branch recently reported that 95 percent of the cocaine transported by airplane from Peru is destined towards Bolivia.

According to the most recent report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Bolivia has experienced a decline in coca cultivation in 2012, and in Peru it declined to 60,400 hectares from 62,500 in 2011.

The same report found that globally, cocaine seizures have slightly increased over the past year to 671 tons in 2012, compared with 634 tons in 2011.