Opium Poppy Cultivation Spreading Eastward from Guerrero Into Neighboring Oaxaca Mexico News Daily
go to original March 17, 2017

Risky Life of Mexican Poppy Farmers (Financial Times)

It was surely just a matter of time before opium poppy production spread from the mountains of Guerrero into those of neighboring Oaxaca.

This week, the Army came under attack on two occasions as soldiers entered the western Oaxaca region to scout for and destroy poppy plantations, where reports of such plantations have become more frequent in recent months.

Oaxaca’s attraction — like Guerrero it too has remote mountainous regions with little in the way of economic activity — has likely grown due to the Army’s presence in Guerrero and the countless territorial confrontations among crime gangs, pushing opium poppy cultivation eastward.

Conditions are attractive for criminal groups, who hire the farmers in the local communities to grow the poppies for them.

Among them are those in the Triqui region, historically a poor part of the state, where citizens have embraced poppy cultivation. There are reports of plantations — of which a total of 47 have been identified — that are larger than 15 hectares whereas in Guerrero they rarely surpass a single hectare.

In response the Army has increased its poppy-eradication incursions into the area, where this week the locals let them know how they felt about it.

Read the rest at Mexico News Daily

Related: Drug Cartels Provide Seeds, Equipment to Indigenous Women in Durango (Mexico News Daily)

Related: Mexico Drug Cartels Charging Churches 'Taxes' (Premier)

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