The demolition “El Cartucho”, a street that dominated Bogota’s street-level drug dealing, has only succeeded in displacing the problem into new areas of the city, a study revealed.
El Cartucho was bulldozed to make way for Tercer Milenio park, which opened in 2000, after it became a haven for drugs and crime in the 1980s.
Bogota Councilman Felipe Rios warned that since then El Cartucho had undergone a “metamorphosis” and now is located in four areas; El Bronx, a sector of the Maria Paz en Kennedy neighbourhood, and the San Bernado and Las Cruces neighbourhoods, Radio Caracol reported.
According to the report 90% of Bogota’s street drug dealing goes on in these areas.
However, the report also warned of the growth in “ollas” – cooking pots – drug dealing from the doorways of homes around the city.
The police have reported 763 callouts about “ollas” in the last three years, focused around eight areas of Bogota; Usaquen, Chapinero, Suba, Usme, Tunjuelito, Bosa, Kennedy and Barrios Unidos.