LatinNews Regional Monitor: Caribbean & Central America - 27 June 2018

GUATEMALA/HONDURAS | Discovery of coca plantations. On 26 May Guatemala’s police (PNC) announced the unprecedented discovery of some 75,000 coca bushes spanning some 10,000 square metres, in a mountainous region in Alta Verapaz department. The security officials also discovered a laboratory containing materials commonly used for turning coca leaves into cocaine base, such as gasoline, cement and acid. This is the first time that there have been reports of coca growing in Guatemala. The previous month, on 9 April, the Honduran special unit against drug trafficking (DLCN) announced the discovery of approximately 40 manzanas (one manzana = 1.68 acres) of coca bushes in Tamales community, in the eastern department of Olancho. Officials said they dismantled a clandestine laboratory used to manufacture coca paste, a precursor to cocaine. Back in May 2017, DLCN found an estimated 12 manzanas of coca plantations in Olancho – the first time coca plantations had been found in the country. At the time the DLCN claimed the crops were likely part of an experiment by organised crime groups. The discoveries are fanning concerns that Central America could be evolving from its traditional role as a transportation corridor to one that is also a drug producer.

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