Luis Jaime Acosta

TUMACO/NORTE SANTANDER (Colombo) – The Colombian drug cartel’s emissaries are involved in more cocaine production, according to Reuters. They pay farmers upfront and push for the cultivation of high-productive strains. Security officials, rights activists, and coca growers all claim that they have been paid a lot of money by Mexican drug cartels.

Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion, two of the most powerful Mexican cartels and have extensive influence in Mexico, have been buying cocaine from Colombian guerrilla groups as well as crime gangs for years.

They used to operate as discreet buyers and do not engage in direct competition with their businesses. However, Reuters was told by residents and farmers that emissaries are becoming more prominent in cocaine-producing zones.

Colombia’s counter-narcotics officers claim that cartels are responsible for significant shifts in coca plant varieties. This has led to a higher production of cocaine. According to police, these developments have led to an increase in the purity and quantity of cocaine being trafficked to Europe and the United States.

According to figures provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), there has been an increase in cocaine production even though areas have decreased over the past three years.

Individuals can be sent by cartels for production and buying, according to General Fernando Murillo (head of DIJIN investigative Division of Colombian police), told Reuters.

He stated that they do so to be certain and confident in the purity or the product being purchased.

Murillo explained that Coca-growers, intelligibles, and captured traffickers described to police and military, how Mexican emissaries conducted purity controls, maintained relations with all types of Colombian arm groups, and negotiated prices.

CARTEL AGRONOMISTS

General Ricardo Alarcon is the director of the Anti-Narcotics Police. He said the coca seed’s extra productive nature was due to cartel-funded cultivation work done by experienced farmers.

In the three-year period, 14 productivity enhancements have been detected by his unit. There is no evidence the seeds are genetically-modified, he said.

U.N. police, military sources and growers, along with human rights activists and growers, all agree that the recent rise in productivity is due to the careful selection of high-yielding varieties.

According to Reuters, a Norte de Santander coca farmer told Reuters that he and his Colombian business associates began distributing fruitful varieties of coca two years ago. He also ordered farmers to plant the plants.

The U.N. estimates that the coca area fell by 2020 but the 2019 and 2018 estimated cocaine productions and average cocaine yield per cultivated hectare increased each year.

The most recent figures for 2020 show that the potential annual production rose by 8% to 1,228 tonnes metric tons, and yield per hectare increased 18% to 7.9 kgs.

The potential production is the amount of cocaine that could be made if all coca leaves are processed to pure cocaine.

Colombia’s violence landscape is complex and the cartels are another factor. For cocaine shipment payments, Mexican gangs have brought high-powered weapons from the United States.

Colombian crime syndicates, such as the Clan del Golfo rebels, and ex-members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerilla group (FARC), are used to buying coca bases and high-grade cocaine by cartels.

Rafael Guarin was at the time serving as National Security Advisor to Colombian President Ivan Duque. He stated that “it’s a very pragmatic relation.” The Mexicans will maintain relations only with those who have control over the areas where they grow and their laboratories, and are able to meet the demand.

The presence of emissaries is evident in coca-growing areas, as four individuals from Cauca, Narino, Norte de Santander, and one who visited Cauca recently told Reuters.

Two men from Mexico spoke in a Cauca bar about how they moved cocaine to truck. One incident ended up being recorded by a 2020 waitress.

One said “We’ll fill you stomach with lead,” and the other revealed his pistol, which was tucked into his waistband.

Reuters could confirm some details provided by the woman who requested anonymity through surveillance footage from the bar.

COCA ADAPTATIONS

A Reuters-viewed police intelligence report shows that cartels are funding the construction of labs and warehouses to coordinate shipments. Police sources also claim they bankroll improvised boats and semisubmersible vessels in the Pacific. The report stated that almost all shipment are identified with logos to ensure quality and control of origin.

According to farmers, they were forced to try the new strains because of their limited options.

Fernando de Santander, a farmer, said that if someone comes with a gun and is dressed in camouflage or a civilian costume, they will tell me these seeds are mine. It’s my life, and it’s the lives of my family.

He stated that “we don’t ask whom’s buying nor from where” but added that because of the accents they had, he believes visitors to his neighborhood were Mexican cartel members.

There are four types of Erythroxylum cocaine, three of which are found in Colombia: the coca, novogranatense and ipadu.

There are many types of productive plants. Certain varieties can thrive in warmer climates while others will withstand drought better.

Alarcon Alarcon is the director of anti-narcotics law enforcement. The producers of cocaine hydrochloride and coca leaves take advantage of these mutations.

According to the national police, there were two varieties of cocaine that have been found in Narino (the top producer of cocaine): tingomaria and giant.

Alarcon explained that rotation of seeds is encouraged by farmers to improve yields and shorten harvest times. Some adaptions produce up to six harvests per calendar year rather than the three traditional.

It’s not clear if the cartels favor a particular modification.

According to security forces, more cocaine than half leaves Colombia through its Pacific coast. As Colonel Jaime Zambrano from the 4th Marine Infantry Brigade rode in a boat along the yellow waters of a river near Tumaco and Narino, he said FARC was a major cartel alliance.

Business is good because of the high demand and abundant crops. Colombian police report that the cost of one kilo high-quality cocaine is more than eighteen times higher at $30,000 at U.S.-Mexico borders and more than $120,000 in the United States.

According to activists, Colombia’s lack of state presence, poverty, and lack of economic opportunities make it attractive for farmers that cartels offer pay-outs in advance.

Because of this total state abandonment, drug trafficking is on the rise. The state has completely abandoned the country, leaving behind no housing that is decent, nor dignified, as well as no healthcare. There are no jobs or education for those who have disabilities in Tumaco, which is home to a growing cocaine supply, but also where there are economic gains.

Wilfredo Canizares of Fundacion Progresar, a human rights organization that advocates for the protection and promotion of human rights said: “For the first times in many years, coca growers have cash upfront.”