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An unusual phenomenon is drawing the attention of governments and experts on drug trafficking issues: the decrease in coca leaf prices, which suggests that the illicit business of drug crops is being reconfigured.
In the coca-growing areas of Colombia, the world’s leading producer, coca leaf inventories are accumulating, an unprecedented fact that, according to experts, shows an apparent crisis in this illegal activity.
The Washington Office for Latin American Affairs -WOLA, for its acronym in English-, raises some of the factors that may be affecting the production of illicit crops, not only in Colombia, but in South America.
This human rights NGO measures the pulse of the drug trafficking phenomenon in the region and has detected an oversupply of coca leaf production -the main source of cocaine-, added to structural changes in the drug cartels, after the capture of several of its leaders.
But it has also been identified that the illegal groups, which have historically managed this business of crops for illicit use, are moving towards more profitable activities. In the case of Colombia, towards the illegal mining of gold and platinum.
WOLA figures indicate that coca leaf prices have dropped by around 60 percent in the last year. While in May 2022 1.3 dollars were paid for each kilo of coca leaf, in May of this year the price reached 52 cents per kilo.
Other drugs displace cocaine
Consulted by France 24, the director of Security and Defense of WOLA, Adam Isacson, spoke about another hypothesis that would explain this collapse in prices: the change in drug consumption habits in the United States, where other synthetic drugs are gaining ground over cocaine.
“When you really think about the crisis of drug use or abuse, you don’t think about cocaine. There is a record number of overdoses from fentanyl, heroin, opioids and methamphetamines. Cocaine hardly enters this story,” explained the specialist, adding that cocaine is no longer the main drug consumed in the US market.
The WOLA expert also drew attention to the emergence of countries and regions that are competing in coca leaf production with Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, which have historically been the world’s coca leaf suppliers.
“In recent years, important crops have been seen and even laboratories detected or destroyed in various departments of Guatemala and Honduras, as well as in southern Mexico. This indicates that drug traffickers are testing new spaces and crops are increasing in other places,” explained Isacson.
In its most recent global report on cocaine, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that the world supply of this substance is at record levels, reaching 2,000 tons in 2020.
The UN report highlights that these figures were reached just at a time when the world was in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
