Colombia began on Thursday to destroy illegal crops near its border with Venezuela as part of an anti-narcotics program by the government, police said.
"The aim is to destroy 3,000 hectares of illegal crops," said Jorge Flores, police commander of North of Santander province.
Flores added that under the plan, some 17,000 hectares of coca and poppy were eradicated in the first quarter this year.
Colombia is the largest drug producer in the world, with about 800 tons of cocaine a year.
In 2003, the Colombian government launched an anti-narcotics strategy, encouraging some 66,000 families with allowances or alternative plants to give up planting coca, a raw material for cocaine.
The strategy is expected to help eradicate about 100,000 hectares of coca plants in 2008.
Source:Xinhua
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