New Delhi, Dec. 23 -- Colombia will use drones to resume spraying of coca crops with a weed killer, the government announced on Monday as authorities grapple with record levels of cocaine production that have fueled tensions with the Trump administration.

The South American country banned aerial fumigation of coca crops in 2015, after the World Health Organization put glyphosate - the weed killer used by spray planes - on a list of carcinogens.

Justice Minister Andres Idarraga told a news conference that the new action involving high-tech drones was approved by the government and would begin on Thursday.

He said the drones would be sent to areas where gangs and rebel groups are forcing peasants to grow coca, the primary source of cocai...