Critics say that the anti-narcotic program known as Plan Colombia -- which has cost US taxpayers more than US$4 billion since 2000 -- is falling well short of its goal of halving coca production in five years.
The coca in Colombia's protected nature reserves represents only 7 percent of last year's total crop of 144,000 hectares -- an area 25 times the size of Manhattan. But the government's previous reluctance to spray in those areas means coca crops are growing at a faster-than-average rate -- more than 14 percent last year, according to a UN report.
"The drug trade is dynamic and traffickers are always looking for weak spots and areas that have traditionally been off-limits," O'Gara said.
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