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Colombia: the Micay canyon, fertile territory of cocaine
Colombia: the Micay canyon, fertile territory of cocaine
(Franceinfo)
Controlled by a dissident branch of the Farc, the Micay canyon is an important place of cocaine production in Colombia. If the army tries as best it can to intervene, operations are difficult.
As far as the eye can see, fluorescent green. We are in the Micay canyon (Colombia), the cocaine canyon. To access it, you have to go through a small road leading to fields, always green and maintained by farmers. Here, completely illegally, coca leaf is grown. Local manufacturing in makeshift laboratories. In barrels, the essence of the plant is extracted and will produce a paste which will serve as a basis for the production of pure cocaine, before being sold. Paid work, especially for very poor Colombians.
A militia that protects and terrorizes
To get here, you have to show your credentials. The coca fields are monitored day and night by armed men. They belong to a Farc dissident group, which never signed peace with the Colombian government in 2016. Their leader was one of the jailers of Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt. In this remote place, this drug trafficker seems respected, because with his militia, he would protect the inhabitants. But they also bring terror to the villages. To restore order, the Colombian army regularly carries out operations, but it is difficult to enter this hostile region.
