Colombia sets new cocaine production record, says UN

BOGOTA: Colombia, the world´s biggest cocaine producer, set a new record last year for the manufacture of the drug and cultivation of the coca leaf it is made from, a United Nations report said on Monday.

Coca leaf cultivation was 13 percent higher last year than in 2021 while cocaine production rose from 1,400 tons to 1,738, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

These were the highest numbers since the UN started monitoring in 2001. Most Colombian cocaine is destined for the United States and Europe. Coca leaf production now spreads over 230,000 hectares in the country.

Nearly two-thirds of coca crops are grown in the southern departments of Narino and Putumayo bordering Ecuador, itself battling a scourge of drug gang-related violence, and in North Santander on the border with Venezuela. Around half of Colombia´s drug crops are found in Indigenous reserves, forest reserves and natural parks, according to the report.