In 2023, Colombia reached a record high in cocaine production, according to a United Nations report released on Friday.
Colombia recognized as the world’s largest cocaine exporter, saw a significant increase in both the drug’s production and the cultivation of the coca leaf from which it is derived.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that coca leaf cultivation expanded by 10 percent over the previous year, while cocaine production surged by 53 percent, climbing from 1,738 tonnes to 2,600 tonnes. These figures represent the highest levels recorded since the UN began its monitoring efforts in 2001. The majority of Colombian cocaine is shipped to markets in the United States and Europe.
Coca leaf production now encompasses 253,000 hectares (approximately 625,100 acres) across Colombia.
Despite a US-led war on drugs that has cost millions of dollars, the trend of increasing cocaine production has persisted since 2014.
In 2023, the areas in Colombia experiencing the most significant increases were the Cauca and Narino departments, which are strongholds of dissident groups from the FARC guerrilla army that disbanded in 2017.
About 20 percent of the land used for coca cultivation belongs to communities of African descent, with another 10 percent located on Indigenous reserves and 18 percent within protected forest areas.
The city of Cali, Colombia, will host the COP16 global summit on biodiversity, which begins this Monday.
Colombia’s first-ever leftist President, Gustavo Petro, has criticized US anti-drug policies, labelling them as causing a “genocide” of Latin Americans due to their focus on repression rather than on prevention and public health initiatives.
