Army Faces Uphill Battle Against Opium Poppies in Mexico's 'Golden Triangle' Agence France-Presse
go to original December 18, 2016

Risky Life of Mexican Poppy Farmers (Financial Times)

The soldiers ripped the opium poppies with their hands and tossed them in four bonfires, clearing a hill in Mexico's lush northwestern mountains in less than two hours.

But their work in the heart of the country's "Golden Triangle," a tri-state region of heroin and marijuana production, was far from over.

After the troops destroyed the 0.5-hectare (1.2-acre) field, Lieutenant Juan Pablo Hernandez Zempoaltecatl pointed to another one on a steep hill past a row of pine trees, and more down the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range.

His 18-man unit has destroyed 39 fields amounting to 15 hectares since they set up camp two weeks ago following a day-and-a-half trek up hills infested with snakes and venomous spiders.

Hernandez estimates that his unit faces 20 more days of grueling work to clear the remote area while spending chilly nights in small tents in the wild.

But once they've destroyed all the bulbs, Hernandez expects farmers to quickly plant new seeds to replace what they just lost. It takes only three months for poppies to grow.

...As Mexico marks 10 years since the government deployed troops to crack down on drug cartels, the army faces an uphill battle in its four-decade-old struggle to eradicate a growing opium poppy production.

Read the rest at Yahoo

Related: Top Drug War General Suggests Mexico's Army Should Return to Its Barracks (Fusion)

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