§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for the. Home Department if he will make a statement on the recent visit to South America of the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Putney (Mr. Mellor).
§ Mr. MellorI visited Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia from 6 to 19 September to assess the scale and likely development of cocaine production and trafficking. I met senior members of their Governments, including the President of Bolivia, and representatives of law enforcement agencies as well as other individuals and organisations concerned with the drug problem. I was impressed with the degree of commitment and awareness which I found, but saddened and concerned at the scale of the problem and the paucity of resources to tackle it. The visit was welcomed by all those I met in demonstrating United Kingdom and European commitment and concern. The Government are reinforcing that message by providing contributions to the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control for law enforcement support activities in the region and by meeting a number of requests for bilateral assistance. The visit was particularly valuable in laying the basis for future co-operation with the four Governments and we are most grateful for their contributions to its success.