Cocaine is back in business.
Global cocaine production lost momentum at the start of the pandemic but has now returned in full force.
According to the UN, supply rose 35% in 2021, the biggest jump since 2016.
According to estimates, world production reached 2,000 tons per year, a historic record, and the increase in supply has gained momentum from 2014. Since then, the offer has more than doubled.
Internationally, too, the quantity confiscated has never been so high. In 2020, the latest year for which estimates are available, 300 tons was exceeded.
According to the Global Report on Cocaine, prepared by the UN Department on Drugs and Crime, the expansion resulted not only from increased acreage, but also from improvements in cultivation and innovations in commerce.
In order to outwit the police, transport techniques are becoming more and more sophisticated. Drugs, beeswax, plastics, herbs, charcoal and various types of liquids that had gotten into the skin of animals were confiscated. “Especially in Europe, these techniques make it difficult to detect the drug,” the document says.
For the UN, the pandemic has had a disruptive impact on the drug market. Restrictions on international travel have made it harder for traffickers to work, and the closure of bars and nightclubs has also dampened demand, “but the latest data suggest this downturn has had little impact on longerterm trends.”
In Colombia, the largest global supplier, the few cartels that dominated the business gave way to fragmentation of producer groups a consequence of the FARC’s demobilization in 2016. As a result, the presence of foreigners in the country increased.
Production has also increased in the other two major Andean producers, Peru and Bolivia.
Regarding Brazil, the report states that airplanes are being used more to transport the drug internally. Despite the increase in the amount of drugs passing through the country, outflow has decreased. Therefore, domestic consumption increased.
Giuliano Guandalini