U.S. Omits Colombian Coca Figure From Drug Report

Fri Mar 1, 5:03 PM ET

By Jonathan Wright WASHINGTON

(Reuters) - The United States omitted the Colombian coca production figure -- the most important single statistic -- from its 2001 drug trade report issued on Friday as the CIA had not yet provided one, U.S. officials said.

The CIA figure is expected to be much higher than that of the Colombian government, which this week reported a decline of more than 11 percent in the 14 months to Nov. 1, 2001. The United Nations endorses the Colombian figure.

The production figure for coca, used for making cocaine, could help measure the success of President Andres Pastrana's Plan Colombia, in which Washington has invested more than $1 billion in the past two years.

Colombia is by far the largest producer of cocaine in the world, and supplies more than 80 percent of the drug sold in the United States, the largest market for cocaine.

A State Department official said the report, which had to be ready in mid-February, did not include the CIA's Colombian coca figure because it was not yet available.

"We still don't have the numbers. It will have TBD ('to be determined') in certain sections," she said.

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