Guatemalan police destroy 1,200 acres of opium poppy plants along border with Mexico

Guatemala cops destroy 1,200 acres of poppy plants

GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemalan police say they have destroyed about 1,200 acres (500 hectares) of opium poppies along the border with Mexico.

National police spokesman Donald Gonzalez says about 250 police officers worked for four days destroying the crops in the mountains of the province of San Marcos in western Guatemala.

He said Friday that no arrests were made. He values the plants at $950 million.

Gonzalez says San Marcos has become the main spot for growing opium poppies in Guatemala. He says the opium resin is taken over the border to Mexico, where drug cartels buy it to make heroin that is smuggled into the United States.