Anti-drug squads are now using Brazilian unmanned aircraft to sniff out drug labs that dot Bolivia in increasing numbers. Felipe Caceras, Bolivia’s top anti-drug official, claims that some 240 drug labs have been busted in Santa Cruz, an eastern lowlands state bordering Brazil, this month alone, all thanks to Brazil’s UAS, which are bought off Israeli robotics firms.
It’s all part of a bigger initiative to blot out the country’s coke kitchens. In 2009, authorities tore down 16 cocaine hydrochloride and 4,864 cocaine base labs. The very next year, authorities seized nearly 29,100 kilos, or about 4 percent of all seizures of coke in 2010, from Bolivian labs. There’s no telling, of course, to what extent these efforts have actually crippled Bolivia’s production; whether with each lab snuffed out, two more quickly take its place; whether the drones will deal a crushing blow to the Bolivian coca churn, or merely sharpen the craft of producers and smugglers; whether everyday folk, caught in the middle and living more and more on top of one another in urban sprawl, will be the only true victims in the long run.
Source: MotherBoard