Coca production on the rise in Peru, UN says

LIMA, June 14 (Reuters) Despite increased drug-fighting efforts, production of the plant used to make cocaine has risen in Peru, the world's No. 2 cocaine producer, along with the amount of land used to cultivate coca, the United Nations said.

The findings come as President Alan Garcia has called for an intensified anti-drug strategy amid signs cocaine production is flourishing in the South American country.

Peru has struggled to reduce cocaine production despite more than 300 million dollars in US aid since 2000.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime said in its annual report the amount of coca leaf grown in Peru increased 8 per cent in 2006 from 2005, while the area cultivated with coca grew 7 per cent.

''In previous years, the increase in the cultivation of coca was focused in one or two regions of the country. Now we're seeing it rising in all coca-growing regions,'' said Alde Lale-Demoz, the UN agency's head in Lima.

Analysts say Peru's rising drug production is largely the result of a crackdown in Colombia, the world's largest cocaine producer, pushing more coca growers across the jungle border between the two countries.

The increasing drug trade is helping give Mexican cartels a greater presence in Peru, experts say.

Garcia, who took office last year, suggested recently that warplanes be used to bomb cocaine labs and airstrips tucked away in the country's jungle region.

He has since said that drug-fighting efforts should center on reducing the availability of chemicals and other materials mixed with coca leaves to make cocaine.

Romulo Pizarro, who heads Peru's anti-drug agency, said much of the cocaine produced in Peru ended up on European streets, principally in Madrid and Amsterdam, with a smaller percentage going to the United States.

Peru had 127,000 acres cultivated with coca in 2006, up from 119,100 acres in 2005, the UN report said. Coca leaf production reached 114,100 metric tons, up from 106,000 in 2005, it said.

Based on those figures, the United Nations said it calculated that cocaine production rose 8 per cent to 280 metric tons last year.

REUTERS SG RK0852