Cocaine production in Colombia is on track to surpass oil as the country’s main export for the year. According to Bloomberg Economics, the surge in cocaine output is partially attributed to Colombia’s attempts to legalize the cocaine trade. Despite Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s strategies to combat the drug trade, focusing on drug lords rather than coca leaf producers, cocaine production and land allocated for coca cultivation continue to rise. Comparatively, cash crops like coffee and pineapple, which take longer to harvest and are more climate-sensitive, struggle to compete with the profitability of coca.
Key Points:
- Cocaine is set to eclipse oil as Colombia’s primary export, with production reaching a record 1,738 tons last year, almost double from 2021.
- The increase in cocaine production is partly due to Colombia’s efforts to legalize the cocaine trade, though the government has been shutting down labs where coca leaves are processed.
- Colombia reserved a record 230,000 hectares (570,000 acres) for coca cultivation in 2022, resulting in over 1.4 million tons of fresh coca leaf, a 24% increase from the previous year.
- President Petro’s initiative to encourage rural communities to grow legal crops over coca is challenging due to coca’s profitability, especially when compared to cash crops like pineapple and coffee.
- Despite measures to control the drug trade, significant cocaine shipments, such as the 9.5 tons intercepted by Spanish authorities last month, continue to be a concern.
Source: https://nypost.com/2023/09/15/cocaine-to-surpass-oil-as-colombias-biggest-export-report/
