BOGOTA, December 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Peru will buy 24 Russian Mi-171Sh helicopters to fight illegal drug trafficking, the country's defence ministry reported on Wednesday.

The first rotary wing machines will be delivered in the second quarter of 2014 and all delivery liabilities under the contract will be implemented in 2015.

Military forces will use the helicopters to combat the narcotics business in the valley of the Apuramac, Ene and Mantaro rivers, a hot spot of activity by the Maoist insurgent organisation Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path.