Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of coca, though output is in steep decline. The area under cultivation more than halved between 1997 and 1999 thanks to aggressive eradication measures by 2,000 troops and police in the main coca-growing region, Chapare. A crackdown on imports of chemicals used to process coca leaves has led to a general drop in purity of Bolivian cocaine. The government has introduced a new criminal code, and training programmes for judges and prosecutors, to help them fight the traffickers. It aims to eradicate illicit coca production by mid-2002.
