WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2022) The United States sees a mixed picture in the efforts to fight narcotics in Colombia given that production has decreased but cultivation of plants has increased, US Assistant Secretary of State Todd Robinson said during a congressional hearing.
"Frankly, the data is mixed. We know that production is going down, but the cultivation is increasing," Robinson told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing on US-Colombia relations on Wednesday.
Robinson noted that Washington and Bogota are cooperating closely in their efforts to fight narcotics production and trafficking, but acknowledged the necessity of improving current efforts.
"We need to continue to do manual eradication," he said.
Robinson said United States and Colombia also have to go after the sources of financing for the narcotics production and trade.
"We are working on that," Robinson added.
Last October, the White House released details on the new US-Colombia counternarcotics strategy developed by a bilateral working group. This strategy included efforts on eradication, laboratory destruction, interdiction, drug demand reduction and money laundering efforts as well as bringing narcotics traffickers to justice.
