Colombia's potential cocaine production at record high, U.N. says

FILE PHOTO: A member of the Colombian navy stands guard along with 5.2 tons of cocaine that were seized in Turbo, Colombia March 6, 2018. Colombian Defense Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Potential production of cocaine in Colombia and the area sown with coca, the drug's base ingredient, rose last year to their highest levels in two decades of monitoring, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Thursday.

Possible output rose 14% to 1,400 metric tons and the area sown with coca shot up 43% to 204,000 hectares (500,000 acres), the UNODC said in an annual report.