Lima, Nov 27 (IANS): Peruvian authorities destroyed nearly nine tonnes of drugs confiscated in anti-narcotics operations, media reports said.

Peruvian Interior Minister Walter Alban oversaw the destruction of 8,716 kg of drugs at the headquarters of Peru's national police department of special operations, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

Alban said that so far this year, 22,543 hectares of illegal coca crops have been destroyed, exceeding the year's target of 22,000 hectares.

"That figure, which we have by far surpassed, marks a record high in coca eradication," said Alban, stressing the operations helped prevent the production of 173 tonnes of cocaine.

Peru is considered the world's leading producer of coca plants, with 61,200 hectares of the crop distributed among 14 valleys. Only 12,000 hectares of coca are legally grown for industrial use.

According to authorities, nine out of 10 coca bushes end up in the hands of drug traffickers, who annually produce 325 tons of cocaine in clandestine labs.