Bolivia's government has announced plans to create a binational police force with Peru, to combat drug trafficking over the shared border.
As La Tercera reports, Bolivian Government Minister Carlos Romero (see photo, above) said that the government had discussed the move with Peru's President Ollanta Humala in August.
He said that the force was needed due to the bilateral nature of security issues on the shared border.
InSight Crime Analysis
The 900 kilometer Peru-Bolivian border is an important crossing point for cocaine. Peru has now surpassed Colombia as the biggest producer of the drug in the world, and much of the product that is sent to Europe goes via Bolivia. Bolivian anti-drug official Felipe Caceres said in July that some 52 percent of the cocaine seized so far that year in his country had originated in Peru.
It remains to be seen, however, how a joint border police force would function. Bolivia has deployed the army to support the police in cities including Santa Cruz, amid high rates of crime, and Romero has said this could also be carried out in border regions.
SUBSCRIBE