Drug smuggler, losing base, acquires church for plant protection (5)
I believe the answer is:
mulch
'plant protection' is the definition.
'mulch' can be an answer for 'protection' (mulch is a kind of protection). I'm unsure of the 'plant' bit.
'drug smuggler losing base acquires church' is the wordplay.
'drug smuggler' becomes 'mule' (I've seen this before).
'losing' is a deletion indicator.
'base' becomes 'e' (I've seen this in other clues).
'acquires church' becomes 'ch' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'mule' with 'e' removed is 'mul'.
'mul'+'ch'='MULCH'
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mulch that I've seen before include "Protection for roots" , "Garden additive" , "Decaying leaves, bark or compost spread around a plant" , "Vegetable matter spread to protect roots, etc" , "Garden dressing" .)