Add Category
A soldier stands on a poppy field, during eradication supervised by the Mexican Army on the outskirts of Morelia, Mexico. Photo: AP/File
Mexico:Â Mexico and the United Nations have announced the results of a new study that estimates opium poppies were planted on about 61,000 acres in 2015.
The study, released on Wednesday, is the first of its kind in the country, so authorities can't compare the results with past years to determine whether opium growing has expanded.
The head of the UNÂ Office on Drugs and Crime in Mexico, Antonio Mazzitelli, said a second part of the study will try to estimate what the crop yield is in Mexico.
Mr Mazzitelli said production is concentrated in nine states along Mexico's Pacific coast, including Guerrero, Sinaloa and Nayarit.
Sinaloa is home to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel whose boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was for years the world's most wanted drug trafficker until his capture by Mexican Marines in February 2014. He embarrassed his government by escaping from prison through a 1.6-kilometre tunnel in July last year.
On Monday, Mexico approved his extradition to the US which, barring any last minute appeals, could be imminent.
American authorities estimate that about half of the heroin seized in the US came from Mexico. The rest originates mainly in South America.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has said poppy cultivation in Mexico is on the rise, with 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres)Â in 2014 and an estimated potential production of 42 metric tons of heroin.
AP