LIMA: Peru has passed the law that allows the military to shoot down planes suspected of smuggling cocaine.
In February, the Peruvian Government announced it would be establishing a no-fly zone in the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro rivers (Vraem), where the majority of coca fields and cocaine are produced in Peru. It made headlines all this year that Peru had become the world’s largest producer, ahead of Colombia.
Despite major eradication efforts and the destruction of 36 clandestine landing strips, Peru is seeking to up its fight against narco-trafficking in the Vraem.
So, after a vote of 89-0 the legislation was passed and it is expected that President Ollanta Humala will sign it into law, reports The Guardian.
The London-based news source says that Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia, have already passed similar legislation. These countries experience different rates of narco-trafficking, growing coca fields, processing cocaine and transporting the drug.
This isn’t the first time however that Peru practices an interdiction program against narco-trafficking planes. They decided to end the program after the military accidentally shot down a plane that carried a missionary and her baby. The deaths of the innocent passengers led them to bring the practice to an end in 2001.
