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August 1, 2008 If Not Colombia, Then Where is the Cocaine Coming From? Colombia’s National Police Chief Oscar Naranjo recently announced that his country’s production of cocaine has dropped by more than half and that it is now responsible for only 54 percent of global production. Speaking at an anti-drug summit in Cartagena, Naranjo’s comments not only constitute the latest misinformation being distributed by the government of President Alvaro Uribe, but they are also ludicrous. Naranjo claims that Colombia was responsible for 90 percent of the world’s cocaine production when President Uribe came to office in 2002. This is a figure that analysts have regularly referred to with regard to the distribution of cocaine production. But if Naranjo’s claim that Colombia is now only responsible for 54 percent of production is true, then it begs the question: Where is the rest of the cocaine being produced? The price, purity and availability of cocaine has not shifted dramatically over the past decade and, considering that cocaine use in North America and Europe has not diminished during this period, one can safely assume that production levels have remained fairly constant. As a result, if Colombia is now responsible for only 54 percent of production, then there is an awful lot of cocaine being produced in other nations. Given that there is no evidence of significant amounts of coca crops being cultivated outside the Andean region, and it is doubtful that the cocaine is being produced very far from the plant that provides its core ingredient, then there are only a few countries that could be alternative producers. Most of the coca cultivated in the Andean region—and in the world—is grown in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. While there is little evidence of coca cultivation in neighboring countries such as Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela, they are close enough to coca growing regions to be viable cocaine production centers. Consequently, if Naranjo’s claims are correct, then 46 percent of the world’s cocaine production is likely occurring in one or more of these countries. And yet, there is no evidence of any significant cocaine production in any of these countries. Even the US State Department’s annual narcotics report, while criticizing unfriendly governments in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador for a lack of cooperation in the war on drugs, does not accuse any of these countries of being major producers of cocaine. It is clear that Naranjo’s claim is little more than the
latest misinformation being disseminated by the Uribe administration
to keep the international spotlight away from the government’s
problems and to improve Colombia’s international image. By
keeping the international community focused on imaginary drug war
successes and the FARC’s human rights abuses (i.e. kidnapping),
the Uribe administration can avoid being scrutinized for its links
to right-wing death squads—currently being revealed in the
para-politics scandal—and its own human rights abuses, including
record numbers of rural Colombians being forcibly displaced by the
military’s overly-aggressive counter-insurgency operations.
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