MEXICO: OPIUM ERADICATION PROGRAM

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06787451
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2019
• Case Number: F-2018-02250
• Publication Date: August 11, 1983

Approved for Release: 2019/07/26 C06787451
Director of
Central
Intelligence
-tifori-Seczet_
National Intelligence Daily
Thursday
11 August 1983
CPAS NID 83-188JX
11 August 1983
Copy 285
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Contents
Mexico: Opium Eradication Program
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MEXICO: Opium Eradication Program
Recent statistics on the opium poppy eradication procram in
Mexico confirm estimates
that opium production this year will reach some 17 tons.
This is roughly the amount produced each year since 1980. When
processed, the opium will account for nearly one-third of the 4 t? 5
tons of heroin sold yearly in the US.
The eradication program began in 1976,
after opium production had reached an estimated 65 tons a year. It
uses Mexican Army forces and an aerial spray campaign to destroy
poppy fields. Farmers have been able to limit the effectiveness of the
program by reducing the size of their fields, moving them beyond
traditional growing areas, hiding them under camouflage, and
locating them in steep ravines to frustrate airborne herbicide
application. Without the eradication program, however, farmers could
have produced some 35 tons of opium this year.
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Approved for Release: 2019/07/26 C06787451