In August 2005 a 12-year-old girl was sentenced to one year in a juvenile prison for smuggling cocaine, under the Bolivian anti-narcotics law 1008. This BBC documentary follows her story, both in prison and after her release.

This was not the first time she had been behind bars.

At the age of six, she spent four years living with her mother - also caught for smuggling cocaine - in San Sebastian women's prison in Cochabamba, where it is normal practice for convicts to take their children to live with them. In The 12 Year Old Cocaine Smuggler, these experiences are illustrated through a family living in prison today.

Marcela Choce (or the "laundry woman", as she is also known), currently lives there with her two children, Pablito and Milli. A poor Indian woman from the coca-growing Chapare jungle, Marcela was caught smuggling cocaine at a checkpoint. And in San Sebastian, where nothing is free, she must wash clothes all day long to pay for a small cell for herself and her family.

During filming, Evo Morales took power in Bolivia.

The first indigenous president in Bolivia's history, he is a former trade union leader for coca growers, and a close ally of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. He spent years fighting for the rights of poor coca growers and has always opposed "1008" - the law drafted by the US as part of their "war against drugs." Many Bolivians see it as an oppressive colonial law, targeting Bolivia's poor.

President Morales has claimed the law is inhumane and has promised to industrialise coca, while maintaining he will also fight cocaine traffic. This documentary, filmed over seven months, shows to what extent the Bolivian leader has managed to fulfil his promises and change the lives of his people.

LEARN MORE:

Andean Information Network - Bolivia: Legacy of Coca
Drug Policy Alliance
WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America)

About Spotlight

Spotlight is a Link TV weekly presentation of investigative reports from around the world. Commentary is provided by prominent authors and journalists. This episode is hosted by Lakshmi Chaudhry, who has been a reporter and editor for independent publications, including Mother Jones and AlterNet, for over six years. She is currently a senior editor at In These Times.