Police uprooted and destroyed 800,000 marijuana plants growing in the mountains of the southern Caribbean Talamanca region, according to a Public Security Ministry statement.[1] The report, published on 26 June 2007, describes the destruction as having happened the day before.[1] Many of the plants on the illegal plantations stood as tall as three metres and were ready to be cut for consumption.[1]
Police burned most of the plants on site upon discovering them and brought only a small sample to the ministry’s headquarters for closer examination, spokeswoman Marielos Barboza said.[1] The round-up was part of the ministry’s efforts to cut off drug trafficking where it begins, Minister Fernando Berrocal said.[1] Every one of the plants cut by police would otherwise have gone on to contaminate the hands of citizens, he said.[1]
The report names no arrests.[1] Police had destroyed more than two million marijuana plants across Costa Rica so far that year.[1]
