Butterflies: New Weapon in Cocaine War?
LONDON — Cocaine barons in Peru have seen more than $37 million worth of the plant that produces the raw material for the drug destroyed in recent months by butterflies.
According to the New Scientist magazine published here this week, swarms of tiny white butterflies have destroyed more than 50,000 acres of illegally grown coca plants in Peru. An estimated 321,000 acres of coca is cultivated illicitly in the Peruvian jungle.
The voracious butterflies, known locally as malumbia, feed exclusively on coca leaves. The magazine said the Peruvian government has asked university researchers to develop a way of propagating the insects to help fight the drug traffic.
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