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By Oliver Griffin
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Fighting the cocaine trade remains a priority for the United States even as it works to tackle more lethal, synthetic drugs like fentanyl, the director of the U.S. narcotics control agency said.
Rocketing consumption of fentanyl in the United States has led some to forecast declines in cocaine production in Colombia, the world's leading provider.
However, speaking in Colombia's capital Bogota following meetings with President Gustavo Petro and other officials, the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Rahul Gupta, said on Tuesday that Washington had not taken its eyes off the cocaine trade.
"Cocaine production, trafficking, (and) consumption remains a priority for us," Gupta said. "We should be able to address the challenges of both the synthetic drugs today, like fentanyl, like methamphetamine and others, while at the same time the plant-based drugs like cocaine."
Despite decades of anti-narcotics efforts, Colombia remains a top producer of cocaine and its government comes under constant pressure from ally the U.S. to reduce output.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, coca crops in Colombia covered 230,000 hectares (568,000 acres) in 2022, the latest year for which figures are available, up 13% from 2021.
Colombia's government said in a statement the United States would increase funds for fighting cocaine trafficking, but Gupta would not be drawn on what such an increase might look like.
Though Petro's government has said it wants to explore legal uses for coca - the chief ingredient in cocaine - such as for making fertilizer, Gupta said such uses would do more harm than good.
"We believe that industrialization of coca is a net negative benefit," he said, adding benefits would be marginal and such an industry would create "perverse incentives" to recruit farmers who might think they can build a livelihood from the crop.
(Reporting by Oliver Griffin, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
