[Iran Press TV Latest] Police have busted five cocaine labs in an Indian village in Bolivia and arrested two people, while one officer was shot. Some Indians managed to escape arrest as others held the police at bay with dynamite blasts, but two Indians were arrested, Maj. Alex Alfaro said on Tuesday.
One officer was killed and another was injured with a bullet-wound in the leg in the encounter that took place in the remote Indian village of Qaqachaca.
The incident took place on October 19, but it was only made public on Tuesday, November 24, Alfaro explained.
The police confiscated two Mauser rifles and destroyed coca leaves and chemicals used to process cocaine, he added.
Many around the world see the coca leaf -- the raw ingredient of cocaine -- as a source of misery, but it also has industrial uses in the cosmetics and food industries.
In addition, it is chewed by the locals, used in traditional medicines and coca tea, and plays a role in the religious ceremonies of some indigenous people of the Andean region.