Colombia increased cocaine production by 8% in 2020, although it has fewer crops and production of coca leaves, the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Peru and Ecuador said on Monday.
In a press conference at the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry, Antonino De Leo specified that the global manufacture of cocaine has grown in recent years, mainly driven by Colombia, which continues to be the largest producer of cocaine in the world, where with fewer coca, more drugs have been produced through the use of complex technology, and a combined increase of 16.5% between Peru and Bolivia.
In Colombia, 143,000 hectares of coca were registered in 2020, which is equivalent to a decrease of 7% compared to the previous year. While the potential manufacture of cocaine increased 8% reaching 1,228 tons.
An increase in the levels of cocaine production is recorded where, despite a clear decrease in the area of coca bush cultivation, there was a continuous concentration of crops in areas with high yield levels and “with sophisticated technical knowledge to manufacturing,” he stressed.
De Leo also indicated that Ecuador is the third country that has seized the most drugs worldwide with 6.6% of the 1,500 tons of cocaine seized in 2020, behind Colombia with 41% and the United States with 11%. .
“The cocaine market is booming,” said De Leo, who specified that new historical highs have been registered for the manufacture and consumption of cocaine and asserted that production grew by 11% in 2020 to reach a record of 1,982 metric tons.
Ecuador is located in the middle of two large drug producers, especially cocaine, such as Colombia and Peru, which often use Ecuadorian territory to export it to North America, the world’s largest consumer, Europe and other markets.
De Leo explained that although the main markets are North America and Europe, there is evidence that it is expanding in countries in Africa and Asia, where the drug arrives especially by sea in containers.
“Not only does cocaine go to the main markets, more seizures are detected that had countries like Russia, China, and India as their final destination,” he added.
