ONDCP FACT SHEET
Breaking Cocaine Sources of Supply
Overview:
Coca, the raw material for cocaine, is grown exclusively in the Andean region of South America. Eradication efforts in Bolivia and Peru have been largely successful, but the continued expansion of coca cultivation in Colombia tempers that success. Even with the coca crop in Colombia more than doubling, however, reductions in Peru and Bolivia have contributed to a worldwide drop in coca cultivation of 15 percent since 1995.
The Leading Supplier:
Rapidly growing cocaine production in Colombia constitutes a threat to U.S. security and the well-being of our citizens. Ninety percent of the cocaine entering the United States originates in or passes through Colombia. Over the last decade, cocaine production in Colombia has increased dramatically. In spite of aerial eradication efforts, Colombian cultivation of coca has more than tripled since 1992. New information about the potency of Colombian coca, the time required for crops to reach maturity, and efficiency in the cocaine conversion process led to a revision in estimates of Colombia's 1998 potential cocaine production from 165 metric tons to 435 metric tons.
The data for calendar 2000 indicate that both the number of hectares of coca under cultivation and the amount of cocaine produced from those crops continue to rise. Colombian coca cultivation rose 11 percent to 136,200 hectares in 2000; there was a corresponding 11 percent increase in potential cocaine production to 580 metric tons. Continued expansion of drug production in Colombia is likely to result in more drugs being shipped to the United States.
What Is Being Done:
On July 30, 2000 President Clinton signed into law a $1.3 billion assistance package to support the Pastrana government's Plan Colombia, as well as other nations' counterdrug programs. Plan Colombia's strategy of encouraging peace, economic prosperity, justice and human rights reform, and social development will be key to stopping the recent proliferation of cocaine production in Colombia. In addition, "Operation New Generation," a joint effort between the Colombian national police, the Colombian national prosecutor's office, and the U.S. DEA, promises to target several of the largest trafficking organizations in Colombia.
Major obstacles to coca eradication in Colombia include the guerilla and paramilitary groups that dominate most of the cultivation areas. In 2000 alone, there were 56 ground-fire attacks on spray planes. The Pastrana government in Colombia has shown its willingness to work with the U.S. in countering the cocaine problem. Colombia's challenge is to regain control of vast amounts of its territory that is controlled by armed groups that protect, tax, and participate in coca production. U.S. aid will help Colombia gain access to more of its own territory, however much more work will need to be done in the years ahead.
Next Steps:
A third battalion of Colombia's Counternarcotics Brigade completed training and joined the other two in the field in early 2001, making the full brigade operational. Andean Regional Initiative funds, contained in the Foreign Operations Appropriations legislation signed into law by President Bush in January 2002, will continue to support Colombian efforts in alternative development, drug interdiction, and protection of human rights. The U.S. will also be aiding the Colombians in reforming and strengthening their law enforcement and judicial systems, which have proved a major weakness in Colombia's counternarcotics effort. Aerial eradication is anticipated to increase with the delivery of additional spray planes that were funded under the initial Plan Colombia U.S. aid package.
Additional Information/Links:
A number of publications on cocaine and cocaine production can be found at http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov. Click on "More Publications" under the Publications column on the welcome page, then select cocaine from the menu that appears on the left. A detailed profile of the situation in Colombia can be found in the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report on the Department of State website at http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2000/index.cfm?docid=883. Scroll down to the "Colombia" section. There is also an excellent overview of the Colombian cocaine problem on the DEA website at http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/intel/01020/index.html#c1.
Last updated: January 2001
