Their mission is to destroy labs and eradicate coca plantations.

In May, soldiers deactivated a five-mile-long perimeter of 2,000 land mines protecting a 40-acre guerrilla complex that included a coca bush plantation and an explosives factory and warehouse.

Last year, officials said, a record 13,008 acres of coca plantations were destroyed in this way.

Indeed, it was the great assault on coca plantations in Peru and Bolivia a decade ago that led to the cultivation of even richer strains in Colombia.

In January 1988, Molina was arrested on a murder charge and was later implicated as the owner of a 200-hectare coca plantation in Boyacá.

Coca farmers, often led by Mr. Morales, have protested forcefully against Washington-led efforts to eradicate coca plantations.

The cocaine industry had a generally deleterious effect on the Bolivian economy not to mention having a serious environmental impact on rivers and rmeoval of forest for coca plantations.

Worried about a revolution in Peru, Coca-Cola had established a coca plantation in Hawaii to assure a supply of the plant for its soft drinks.

In many cases the spraying is carried out by American contractors, such as DynCorp, using planes and helicopters to spray Roundup on coca plantations.

Because the glyphosate is sprayed from the air, there is a much higher chance of human error when spraying suspected illegal coca plantations.