Colombian Government Using Drones To Destroy Cocaine Farms

Drones are being used for a variety of tasks these days. They have been deployed to prevent illegal fishing in Africa and there’s a possibility that autonomous drones could be used to keep birds away from airports. The Colombian government is using drones for something else entirely. It’s using them to destroy cocaine farms.

The Colombian government is now relying on drones to destroy plants that are used to produce cocaine. These small drones are filled with herbicide and sent to search for illegal fields of coca. Colombia’s President Iván Duque prefers using drones for this task to ensure that the damage to neighboring crops is minimized as much as possible.

The tests conducted in Colombia’s Narino province showed that the drones had eliminated close to 90 percent of coca plants on each acre targeted, said German Heurtas, the director of operations at the company that’s supplying these drones. Fumi Drones SAS is providing these drones to Colombian authorities.

Ten drones were deployed in this trial, weighing in at about 51lb each. They carried glyphosate, the chemical used to kill the coca plants. The trial was part of the president’s initiative to eliminate cocaine production in the country. According to figures from the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, coca growth in the country reached an all-time high in 2017.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Drones