The seizure of 1,639 coca plants in southern Mexico marks the first known instance of the raw ingredient for cocaine being cultivated in the country, Mexican and UN officials said today.
Mexico is home to various drug cartels that traffic large quantities of cocaine toward the United States, but coca itself is typically grown in the Andean region. The find raised concerns that it could be a test of the viability of reducing dependence on South American suppliers.
"It's a pretty troubling discovery," said Antonio Mazzitelli, the Mexico representative of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. He added that it could amount to "a small-scale experiment to see if there's a possibility of replicating" coca cultivation in Mexico.
Both he and Mexican General Sergio Martinez, commander of the 36th military zone in the southern state of Chiapas, confirmed that the coca plantation is a first for Mexico. Previously, Mazzitelli said, only labs that processed coca into cocaine had been found in the country.
Soldiers and agents discovered the plants in the town of Tuxtla Chico near the border between Guatemala and Chiapas, a mountainous state known for its coffee plantations.
