Colombia’s estimated potential coca increased 24% to 1,738 metric tons between 2021 and last year, according to the United Nations drug agency UNODC.
This increase is partly due to a 12% increase in the land that is used to cultivate coca, the base ingredient for cocaine.
Coca cultivation
Security forces seized 671 metric tons of cocaine last year, implying that Colombia’s potential cocaine exports went from 731 metric tons in 2021 to 1,067 metric tons last year.
Potential cocaine exports
Last year’s coca cultivation and cocaine production numbers are the highest since the UNODC began monitoring the drug trade in Colombia in 1995.
The UN report was released as the government of President Gustavo Petro was finalizing its proposed strategy to curb the drug consumption and trafficking.
Petro has been a fierce opponent of his predecessors who sought to combat drug trafficking through repressive policies that targeted farmers that grow coca.
While waiting for a new drug policy, Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez has stressed the security forces’ efforts to confiscate cocaine shipments.
This change in strategy has yet to produce results, however.
The production of cocaine in South American countries like Peru and Bolivia has also soared, particularly during the economic crisis caused by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
Colombia’s cocaine production had been rising since the beginning of peace talks with the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC.
Petro’s pending drug policy is expected to follow recommendations given by the Truth Commission, which urged the government to implement the peace deal agreed with the FARC in 2016.
This peace deal sought to tackle the drug trade by the development of the rural economy in regions that have long depended on Colombia’s illicit economy.