Colombia will have to resume aerial spraying to destroy coca crops, US President Donald Trump has said. Mr Trump made the remarks at a joint press conference with Colombian President Ivan Duque in Washington. Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, while the US is the world’s largest consumer.

Aerial spraying of crops was suspended in 2015 after a court ruled that the herbicide used – glyphosate – could cause cancer and pollute land. “Well, you’re going to have to spray. If you don’t spray, you’re not going to get rid of them. So you have to spray, with regard to the drugs in Colombia,” the US president told Mr Duque. Mr Duque said that the country would “combine all the options available” in order to combat the problem, including the manual destruction of crops.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) issued statistics in September that showed coca production acreage in Colombia in 2017 was the highest ever recorded. The total surface area used for cultivation – about 171,000 hectares – was an estimated 17% higher than 2016.(BBC)…[+]