REPORTE MUNDIAL DE DROGAS - LIBRO NRO 3: SUMINISTRO DE DROGAS

WORLD DRUG REPORT 2020
DRUG SUPPLY
The impact of improved efficiency in cocaine manufacture
An increase in the size of coca leaf harvests since 2014 has
contributed to the dramatic increase in global cocaine
manufacture in recent years, most notably in Colombia.
Moreover, the concentration of coca leaf production in
some high-yield areas, in combination with a decline in
eradication over the past few years, cultivation on larger
plots (almost doubling in size in Colombia from, on
average, 0.6 ha in 2013 and 2014 to 1.1 ha in 2018),
the use of higher-yielding varieties, and improvements
in agricultural practices and in the age structure of the
coca bush plants, with plants reaching the right age for
coca leaf to be harvested, are all factors that appear to
have contributed to higher yields of coca leaf. The coca
leaf yield rose in Colombia from an average of 4.7 tons
of fresh coca leaf per hectare in 2014 to 5.7 tons per
hectare in 2018. a
Regarding overall laboratory efficiency, however, opposing
trends have been observed. On the one hand, that
efficiency has declined as more and more farmers, notably
in Colombia, have started not only to cultivate coca
leaf but also to become involved in the manufacture of
coca paste or cocaine base (to date, some 45 per cent of
those farmers). This is done in small, relatively rudimentary
manufacturing facilities, often without even basic
chemistry skills. Other factors are the significant
increases in coca leaf production and thus falling and/or
strongly fluctuating coca leaf prices as “traditional” coca
leaf buyers, in particular groups operating under the
protection of FARC in territories under its control, left
the market, thereby prompting farmers to become more
involved in the various processes requisite to the manufacture
of cocaine.
On the other hand, there is evidence of a concurrent
increase in the optimization of cocaine-manufacturing
processes in the larger laboratories. A recently identified
trend has been the use of “re-oxidized base”, which
involves the standardization of the oxidation level of
batches of cocaine base produced (often by farmers)
in different locations before it is all processed into
cocaine hydrochloride. b Another recent development,
which may be linked to the previous one, is batches
of cocaine base produced (often by farmers) in
different locations before it is all processed into
cocaine hydrochloride. b
Nonetheless, it appears that overall laboratory efficiency
is now significantly lower than a decade ago
(although some of the changes are also the result of
improved and more rigorous data collection). This
prompted a revision of the coca leaf-to-cocaine
hydrochloride conversion ratios for Colombia, which
was retrospectively applied to all years from 2014
onwards. While previous calculations suggested that
in 2017, on average, approximately 8.2 kg of cocaine
hydrochloride (at 100 per cent purity) could be
obtained per hectare under coca cultivation (harvested)
in Colombia, a revised calculation, taking
into account the greater share of farmers involved in
the coca paste and base production process, arrived
at a significantly lower ratio of an average of just 6.3
kg of cocaine hydrochloride per hectare under coca
cultivation (harvested) in 2017. c
Nevertheless, based on the revised data set for Colombia,
it has been detected that the overall efficiency of
the coca sector in Colombia has been improving in
recent years – an improved efficiency that is then
reflected in the manufacturing of cocaine at the
global level. Overall, an average of 5.2 kg of cocaine
hydrochloride were obtained per hectare under coca
cultivation (harvested) in Colombia in 2015, rising
to 6.3 kg in 2017 and to 6.5 kg in 2018. d
a UNODC and Colombia, Colombia: Monitoreo de Territorios
Afectados por Cultivos Ilícitos 2017 (September 2018).
b EMCDDA and Europol, EU Drug Markets Report 2019
(Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2019).
c UNODC and Colombia, Colombia: Monitoreo de Territorios
Afectados por Cultivos Ilícitos 2017.
d UNODC and Colombia, Colombia: Monitoreo de Territorios
Afectados por Cultivos Ilícitos 2018 (August 2019).
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