WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) -- A decline in estimated coca leaf production was tempered by a near-double increase in opium cultivation in 2004, a U.S. drugs report released Friday said.
Potential coca leaf production fell to 5,361 metric tons from 17,210 metric tons in 2003, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report said. It credited U.S. cooperation with Mexico, Bolivia and Colombia, but noted challenges ahead.
Coca leaves are used to make cocaine, the No. 1 illegal drug threat in the United States.
There was bad news, however, for opium cultivation, which nearly doubled.
The report said in 2004, 250,700 hectares of opium were cultivated worldwide, up from 127,030 hectares in 2003. Afghanistan, the main culprit, set a new record: 206,700 hectares. The report said it alone could satisfy world heroin demand.
"Global heroin traffic cannot be reduced unless there are important reductions in Afghan opium poppy cultivation," it said.
The drug trade, the report said, is a major global problem and contributed to the incomes of organized crime and terrorist groups.
The annual congressionally mandated report was released by the U.S. State Department.
