Global cocaine production soars to record levels, UN says

Coca cultivation shot up 35% between 2020 and 2021, reaching a record level, according to a UN report published this Thursday, which points to the appearance of new trafficking centers in southeastern Europe and Africa.

In 2021 there were more than 300,000 hectares of coca plantations in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, the three countries where the cultivation fields are concentrated, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), based in Vienna (Austria).

Once collected, the leaves are delivered to chemists who mix them with gasoline, lime, cement, and ammonium sulfate to obtain a white paste.

This paste is then enriched with a cocktail of acids and solvents.

In 2020, cocaine production amounted to more than 2,000 tons, a record, according to the report.

Following a temporary slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, global production has skyrocketed in the past two years.

In addition to the expansion of coca bush cultivation, the UNODC explains this strong increase by “improvements in the transformation process” from the coca bush into cocaine hydrochloride.

Likewise, the organism indicates a “constant increase” of demand in the last decade and seizures reaching a record of almost 2,000 tons in 2021.

Although the cocaine market remains highly concentrated in the Americas and parts of Europe, the report warns that there is great potential for expansion in Africa and Asia.

“Rising global cocaine supply should put us all on high alert”, declared the executive director of UNODC, Ghada Waly, quoted in the statement.

The report also analyzes the emergence of new cocaine trafficking hubs, noting that countries in South East Europe and Africa are increasingly being used as key transit areas for the drug.

North Sea ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg have eclipsed the traditional entry points in Spain and Portugal for cocaine reaching Western Europe.

Traffickers are also diversifying their routes in Central America, sending more and more cocaine to Europe.

Source: AFP