Coca
Brief /
Drop in Coca Crops, Increase in Colombian Cocaine
A drop of 15,000 hectares of coca crops in Colombia made no difference in reducing cocaine production in 2019 -- instead it increased compared with the previous...
Analysis /
Violence Rages On in Colombia’s Cauca Department
A wave of violence has struck Colombia's southwestern Cauca department, in the form of targeted killings and armed groups battling for control of coca crops and...
Analysis /
Colombia’s Coca Eradicators Spared From Coronavirus Lockdown
While it has imposed a stringent coronavirus lockdown, the Colombian government has come under fire for allowing coca eradication campaigns to continue largely...
Analysis /
Tensions Rise in Bolivia’s Chapare as Government Escalates Anti-Drug Operations
Officials from Bolivia's interim government have stepped up drug trafficking operations over the last six months, but a focus on coca-producing communities in...
Analysis /
‘Contador’ – Colombia’s Sought After Patron of Cocaine
The arrest of suspected crime boss "El Contador," who is accused of being one of Colombia's most powerful traffickers, could further stoke violence in Nariño, a...
Brief /
Wave of Murders Hits Small Coca-Producing Town in Northern Colombia
Murders have spiked in a northern Colombia town that borders Venezuela, is home to armed groups, and has an abundance of coca -- an explosive...
Brief /
Half of All Destroyed Coca Crops Replanted in Colombia
The Colombian government has been lauding the success of its stringent targets for the eradication of coca crops nationwide, but with replanting rates estimated at...
Brief /
Colombia’s El Tandil – Where Children’s Education Depends on the Coca Leaf
A recent report on child labor in the municipality of Tumaco has shed light on why children and young people around Colombia find themselves cornered into...
Brief /
Coca Crops Surge Amid Security Vacuum on Peru-Bolivia Border
A spike in coca crops around a national park along the Bolivia-Peru border has accompanied a recent population boom and disintegrating security in the region, as...
Brief /
Chemicals for Cocaine Production Hidden in Sugar and Beer in Peru
Peruvian authorities managed to identify close to 20 methods for hiding illegal chemical components being sent to criminal groups in the VRAEM, the country’s top...
Analysis /
Bolivia Coca Growers Fight for Control of Legal Production
Violent tensions are flaring in Bolivia's capital between hostile factions of one of the country's coca growers’ unions, escalating a long-simmering conflict for...
Analysis /
Colombia’s Drug Strategy Paradox – Less Coca Crops, More Cocaine
A new UN study shows that while Colombia saw a slight drop in coca crop plantations between 2017 and 2018, this has not...