§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what international action his Department has taken to combat the drugs trade, with particular reference to drugs from Latin America. [104453]
§ Mr. BattleThe FCO co-ordinates the UK's international counter-drugs activities, to reduce the production of Class A drugs and their trafficking to the UK and Europe. During the financial year 1998–99 the FCO spent £5,900,000 on projects in support of these aims. On322W 5 January I announced a contribution of £2.286 million towards a range of projects under the UN International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). This consists of:
- £470,000 to strengthen the counter-drugs capabilities of law enforcement agencies in Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia.
- £216,000 to support a Law Enforcement Adviser to UNDCP.
- £350,000 to a precursor control project and other law enforcement measures in Bolivia.
- £350,000 to support an integrated monitoring system of illicit cultivation in Columbia.
- £500,000 to protect to monitor coca leaf production in Peru.
- £100,000 to phase II of a project to promote the regional co-ordination of drug control activities in the Caribbean.
- Up to £300,000 for UNDCP's strategic studies of the Afghanistan opium trade and the annual Afghanistan opium poppy survey.