EDGE 2 - Stanford University



The Colombian Drug Trade:

A Greater Threat Than Believed

Cristy Aragon

EDGE- Prejudice and Poverty

Spring 2005

The Colombian Drug Trade: A Greater Threat Than Believed

On September 7, 2000, the Colombian National Police (CNP) seized a partially constructed, steel-hulled submarine from a warehouse outside Bogotá, Colombia, which, as the police suspected, could have been used to transport up to 10 metric tons, worth $2 million, of illicit drugs from Colombia to remote off-load sites in Latin America and the Caribbean—had it been completed.[1] Colombia’s Department of Administrative Security says the submarine would have been used to evade radar and naval patrol ships, taking drugs out to sea where they could be transferred to high-speed motorboats for the journey to Central America and then on to the United States.[2] While this “narco-sub” was confiscated before being utilized, its conceptualization and partial creation demonstrate the infinite resources and ingenuity of modern drug traffickers. Colombian traffickers especially generate billions of dollars in revenues each year, which have been increasingly used to purchase the best talent and technology available on the world market. Despite the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) belief that possible drug submarines pose only a limited threat to interdiction forces, they cannot deny that Colombian drug traffickers are devising clever strategies to evade eradication efforts and maintain their billion dollar illicit drug industry.

Colombia has always been, and remains, the world’s number one producer of finished cocaine HCI; however, the country has also recently begun to dominate the production of the world’s cocaine base. As recent as 1995, Colombia had only produced about 25 percent of the world’s cocaine base and was dependent on Peruvian and Bolivian sources for two-thirds of the product, which is needed to make finished HCI. Yet, today, Colombian production of cocaine base has increased to about 74 percent of the world’s supply, according to the 2002 DEA Drug Intelligence Report. Not only is the country able to independently produce cocaine HCI from start to finish, but scientific fieldwork carried out by the DEA has also found that traffickers in Colombia are growing varieties of coca with a higher cocaine alkaloid yield than previously identified, and that their cocaine base laboratory operations are more efficient than previously believed.[3] The DEA has also observed dramatic changes in the “geopolitics” of coca cultivation and cocaine production. These changing dynamics highlight the adaptability of Colombian cocaine trafficking organizations to changing geographic conditions, market demand, and drug enforcement policies, as they continue to dominate the international cocaine trade.

From the early 1980s through the mid 1990s, first the Mendellin Cartel and then the Cali Cartel, dominated all aspects of the international cocaine trade, from wholesale production to transportation, to wholesale distribution in the United States and Europe. Beginning in the mid 1990s, however, dramatic law enforcement successes against both cartels caused their dissolution and the rise of experienced drug traffickers who had been in the shadows of the era’s renowned drug lords. As a result, the cocaine trade has been decentralize and fragmented as Colombian traffickers now specialize in only one aspect of the cocaine industry, diffusing trafficking roles to cartels in other regions, such as Mexico and the Caribbean. In spite of this fragmentation, Colombian cocaine trafficking organizations have remained the dominant players in the international cocaine trade, and continue to control the supply of cocaine at its source; have a firm grip on Caribbean smuggling routes; and dominate the wholesale cocaine markets in the eastern United States and in Europe.[4]

This report examines drug trafficking in Colombia, the evolution of cocaine and its prevalence in the United States, and the Colombian Government’s counter-drug strategies, programs, and organizations, and offers a future outlook.

Colombia: The Geography of the Drug Trade

Because of its geographic location, diverse terrain, and harvestable climate, Colombia is a strategic and fruitful center of the drug trade in South America. With over 3,200 kilometers of coastline, Colombia is the only South American country with coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, providing traffickers in the region with access to two major maritime transshipment corridors for sending drugs to the United States.

Colombia has a population of approximately 40 million and covers a total area of 1,138,910 square kilometers. The country shares land borders totaling about 6,000 kilometers with Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Before Colombia produced a majority of cocaine base, its southern borders were extremely important in receiving the product from Peru and Bolivia. Should base production rebound in these countries, this factor would again play a significant role in cocaine base trafficking.

Colombia’s lack of a safe, domestic transportation infrastructure has shaped how traffickers move drugs and essential chemicals within the country.[5] Because its major road networks and its relatively small rail system are concentrated in the western half of the country, and traveling by road outside its major cities is extremely dangerous, transportation by river is the only practical means of moving essential chemicals in quantities required to produce multi-ton quantities of cocaine. To move cocaine, another crucial method of transporting chemicals and cocaine products is by air. Colombia has more than 10 airports, including 11 international airports, and hundreds of illegal clandestine airstrips scattered throughout the country.

Colombia can be divided into six broad geographic regions: the Guajira Peninsula, the North Coast, the Pacific Coast, the Andean Mountain Ranges, the Lowlands, and the Rain Forest. Understanding these regions and the types of drug activity which go on in these areas is a chief concern for successful drug eradication operations. Most of Colombia’s coca is cultivated in the eastern lowlands or southern rainforest areas, where the GOC exerts limited authority, making it more difficult to enforce policy and monitor coca fields.

Coca Cultivation and the Changing Dynamics of Cocaine Production:

In recent years, the DEA has observed dramatic changes in the “geopolitics” of coca cultivation and cocaine production. The major change in production has been the shift of base cocaine production from Peru and Bolivia to Colombia, which produced 76 percent of the world’s cocaine base in 2001. When expressed in terms of potential cocaine base “output,” Colombia’s production has increased 217 percent, from 230 metric tons in 1995 to 730 metric tons in 2001.[6] On the other hand, from 1995 to 2000, Bolivia’s potential cocaine base production fell by 82 percent, from 240 metric tons to 43 metric tons, most likely due to unprecedented coca eradication. Similarly, Peru’s potential cocaine base production decreased by 68 percent, from 460 metric tons in 1995 to 145 metric tons in 2000.

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Still the number one producer of finished cocaine HCI, Colombia produces more than 80 percent of the global cocaine HCI supply, and approximately 90 percent of the cocaine HCI reaching the United States. Now the chief producer of cocaine base and cocaine HCI, net coca cultivation in Colombia has more than tripled, from 50,000 hectares in 1995 to 169,000 hectares in 2001. In other words, the land area under coca cultivation in Colombia in 2001 was three times the size of the Peru-Bolivia crop combined. 2001 also marked the ninth consecutive year that Colombia’s coca cultivation and production have increased. In spite of this steady upward trend in Colombia’s cocaine output, estimated cocaine production for the entire Andean region actually decreased by 17 percent from 1995 to 2000, from 930 metric tons to 768 metric tons.[7]

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Unlike HCI production, potential cocaine base production for the entire Andean Region increased by 16 percent in 2001, from 805 metric tons in 2000 to 930 metric tons in 2001. Despite the net increase, production in Bolivia and Peru actually dropped by 25 percent and 3.4 percent respectively; this means that Colombia’s increase of 25 percent dwarfed the combined 25-metric-ton decrease in Peru and Bolivia.

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Not only have the dynamics of cocaine production changed over the past decade, but there have also been signs of shifting cultivation patterns and improved techniques. UNODC’s surveys consistently reveal signs that farmers are improving and adapting their cultivation techniques, both to increase yield and to hide crops. In Bolivia, for example, fertilizers and pesticides have been widely used for coca cultivation, but it was only until 2003 that the irrigation of coca fields has become common.[8] Farmers are also interspersing their coca crop with other licit crops, such as rice, cassava, pineapple, and citrus trees. They time the addition of the coca crop to the licit crop carefully, when the licit crop is at about half of its maturity. This technique is especially popular in regions where the most eradication takes place as it has been a common method of avoiding regulation. Similarly, coca cultivation in Colombia is characterized by a high degree of mobility as farmers shift tactically to avoid eradication and exploit new growing areas.

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Cocaine is produced using two distinctive laboratory conversion stages: coca leaf to cocaine base, and cocaine base to cocaine HCI. As previously mentioned, Colombia’s role as the world’s largest producer of both cocaine base and cocaine HCI is a relatively new phenomenon. Historically, hundreds of tons of cocaine base were imported from Peru and Bolivia to Colombia every year, where it was further refined into cocaine HCI and then exported to foreign illicit drug markets, including the US and Europe. This changing dynamic and shift of production dependencies within the Andean region has provided Colombia with greater control over cocaine production and distribution. Scientific fieldwork carried out by the DEA in Colombia from early 1999 through mid-2000 has shown startling results, considering this changing production dynamic, has revealed Colombia’s capabilities for greater production efficiency and higher purity yields. For example, work by the DEA has determined that Colombian cocaine base cooks require approximately 1 metric ton of fresh leaf (the equivalent of 260 kilograms of dryleaf) to produce 1 kilogram of 100 percent pure cocaine base. By contrast, Bolivian cooks require 386 kilograms of dry leaf to produce 1 kilogram of cocaine base, and Peruvian cooks require 400 kilograms of dry leaf[9], much more than their Colombian counterpart. Such findings have had a dramatic impact on the USG’s perception of the Colombian cocaine threat.

Pharmacology:

Cocaine in its purest form is an off-white or pink chunky product. Cocaine appearing in powder form is a salt, typically cocaine hydrochloride; however, cocaine is frequently adulterated or “cut” with various powdery fillers to increase its volume. The substances most commonly used to dilute cocaine are baking soda, sugars, such as lactose, inositol, and mannitol, and local anesthetics, such as lidocaine. This form of cocaine is often a white or off-white powder.

The color of “crack” cocaine depends on several factors including the origin of the cocaine used, the method of preparation (with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate), and the presence of impurities, but will generally range from a light brown to a pale brown. While these factors also affect its texture, “crack” cocaine takes on a range from a crumbly texture to a hard, almost crystalline nature, going from light to dark respectively.[10]

Forms of cocaine:

Cocaine sulfate

Cocaine sulfate is produced by smashing coca leaves along with water and dilute sulfuric acid. This is often accomplished by putting the ingredients into a vat and stamping on it, similar to the traditional method of crushing grapes. The sulfate itself is an intermediate step to producing cocaine hydrochloride.

Cocaine hydrochloride

Cocaine hydrochloride (HCI) is the standard form of finished cocaine. Because the substance is very stable and soluble in water, it is the most suitable for snorting or injecting. In the seventies, it was commongly used by dissolving it in a glass of Coca-Cola (this was after cocaine had been removed as an ingredient), making a drink names “Coke and Coke” (cite).

Freebase

While the salt form of cocaine is hydrochloride, the base form is called “freebase”. Unlike its salt counterpart, the base is insoluble in water and is therefore not suitable for drinking, snorting, or injecting. Instead, it vaporizes at a low temperature, which makes it suitable for smoking. Freebase cocaine is produced first by dissolving cocaine hydrochloride in water. Once dissolved, cocaine hydrochloride separates into protonated cocaine ion and chloride ion, while the remaining solids, which are not cocaine, are removed by filtering. Then, a base, typically ammonia (NH3), is added to the solutoin to remove the extra proton from the cocaine. Because freebase cocaine is insoluble in water, it precipitates out and the solution becomes cloudy. To recover the breebase, ether is added to the solution and the mixture is shaken vigorously; after this, the ether is siphoned off and left to evaportae, leaving behind a nearly pire freebase.

Because the cocaine is immediately absorbed into the blood through the lungs, many cocaine users prefer smoking freebase to other methods of cocaine use. The rush is much more intense, since the substance reaches the brain in about five seconds, but the effects do not last as long. This characteristic of freebasing makes the drug especially dangerous as users often continue to smoke freebase until its gone, instead of waiting the five to ten minutes for the high to finish, thus resulting in overdose.

What’s important to note is that the term “freebasing” refers to the process done by users to change finished cocaine HCI product back to cocaine base, in what could be considered a production refersal process.

Crack cocaine

Crack cocaine is another form of cocaine created by users from finished cocaine HCI, similar to that of freebase. The difference is found in its production; instead of using ether to produce freebase cocaine, producers began to omit the step of removing the freebase cocaine precipitate from the ammonia mixture. The end result is that the cut, in addition to the ammonium salt, remains in the freebase cocaine after the mixture is evaporated. The “rock” that forms contains a small amount of water, which, when heated, boils and makes a crackling sound; thus, this substance was named “crack”.

Crack is a unique form of cocaine for it offers a strong cocaine experience in small, low-priced packages. In the United States, crack cocaine is often sold in small, inexpensive doses often referred to as “nickels” or “nickel rocks” (because of its five dollar price), “dimes” or “dime rocks,” “twenties,” or “forties.” Average users of crack cocaine are typically 30 years and older inner-city residents of a lower income bracket.

Street Terms:

|Street terms for cocaine |

|All American drug |Icing |

|Aspirin (powder cocaine) |Jelly |

|Barbs |Lady |

|Basa (crack cocaine) |Mama coca |

|Base (crack cocaine) |Mojo |

|Bernie |Nose stuff |

|Big C |Oyster stew |

|Black rock (crack cocaine) |Paradise |

|CDs (crack cocaine) |Pariba (powder cocaine) |

|Candy sugar (powder cocaine) |Pearl |

|Coca |Real tops (crack cocaine) |

|Crack |Rocks (crack cocaine) |

|Double bubble |Roxanne (crack cocaine) |

|Electric Kool-Aid (crack cocaine) |Scorpion |

|Flave (powder cocaine) |Sevenup |

|Florida snow |Snow white |

|Foo foo |Sugar boogers (powder cocaine) |

|Gin |Twinkie (crack cocaine) |

|Gold dust |Yam (crack cocaine) |

|Happy dust |Zip |

Colombian Cocaine Trafficking Groups and the Decentralization of Cocaine Trade:

Colombian drug traffickers are chiefly responsible for most of the world’s cocaine base production, cocaine HCI production, and cocaine wholesale distribution. From the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, first the Medellin Cartel, and then the Cali Cartel, dominated all aspects of international cocaine trade, from wholesale production to wholesale distribution in the United States and Europe, until aggressive counter-drug efforts by Colombia and the US caused the dissolution of these cartels and the decentralization of the drug trade.

In the late 1980s, the Medellin Cartel was run by the Ochoa brothers (Juan David, Jorge Luis, and Fabio). But, as these leaders faced increasing government pressures, they surrendered to the Colombian Government in late 1990 and early 1992, assuming they would face lenient sentencing. Following their surrender, two more chief drug lords of the Medellin cartel, Jose Rodriguez-Gacha (December 1989) and Pablo Escobar (December 1993), were violently murdered. As a result, the Medellin cartel broke up and gradually lost its secure lock on the international cocaine market.

By the early 1990s, a loose association of five independent drug trafficking groups, collectively known as the Cali Cartel, succeeded the Medellin Cartel in dominating the international market.[11] However, the capture of the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers in 1995, the death of Jose Santacruz-Londone, and the surrender of Helmer “Pacho” Herrera in September 1996 drove the Cali Cartel to a fate similar to that of the Medellin Cartel. Following the dissolution of these powerful cartels, experienced drug traffickers jumped on the opportunity to increase their roles and positions in the cocaine trade. What resulted was a decentralized drug trade which led to a subsequent change in how drug trafficking groups operated.

Today, Colombian traffickers typically specialize in one aspect of the cocaine industry, unlike their cartel predecessors. This is in part a result of the cocaine trade’s fragmentation, but also a product of the reintroduction of extradition in Colombia, which occurred in December of 1997. Because traders can be extradited to the US, as was a recent trader Alejandro Bernal Madrigal (aka Juvenal), major Colombian traffickers are increasingly willing to allow their foreign criminal associates an expanded international role.

Since the mid-1990s, some Mexican drug transportation groups have received up to 50 percent of the Colombian cocaine they move to the United States as payment for a successful smuggling operation. Seeing an opportunity to expand their wholesale cocaine distribution, the major Mexican drug trafficking groups have increasingly capitalized on this “payment-in-product” arrangement. In fact, Mexican trafficking groups now dominate the wholesale distribution of cocaine in the United States’ West and Midwest. Despite this development, Colombian traffickers continue to control the supply of cocaine at its source and dominate the wholesale cocaine markets in the eastern United States and in Europe.

Similarly to their Mexican counterparts, Caribbean drug trafficking groups are primarily involved in drug transportation and receive a payment-in-product arrangement for successful smuggling operations. This arrangement has also allowed Dominican traffickers to expand their own cocaine distribution operations in the United States and the Caribbean. As a result, Dominican groups dominate drug trafficking in and around the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico.[12]

Movement of Colombian Cocaine to the United States and Europe:

Despite the decentralization of the cocaine trade, Colombia continues to produce the bulk of the world’s cocaine HCI at over 70 percent. Of the cocaine HCI departing from South America for the United States, about 60 percent comes from Colombia’s North or Pacific coast and travels towards either Central America or Mexico via eastern Pacific or western Caribbean. Typically, this Cocaine, which is transshipped to Mexico, is then transported to the US through the US southwestern land border with Mexico. On the other hand, the remaining 40 percent of South American cocaine HCI headed for the United States transits various Caribbean islands (in particular Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico) or transits directly from South America to the mainland United States without any stops in between.

Maritime vessels are the primary means used by traffickers to smuggle cocaine from South America into Central America and Mexico as well as through the Caribbean. Go-fast boats, bulk cargo freighters, and containerized cargo vessels remain the most common conveyances for moving multi-hundred-kilogram quantities of cocaine through the regions.

Since the early 1990s, Colombian trafficking organizations have aggressively expanded their drug operations in Western Europe. This expansion has been highly profitable for Colombian traffickers, as higher wholesale prices for cocaine in Europe are higher than those in the US.

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The Iberian Peninsula continues to serve as the principle gateway for cocaine entering Europe, given its cultural, linguistic, and ethnic ties to South American countries. The primary method for smuggling large quantities of cocaine to Europe is by containerized cargo, in which traffickers hide the cocaine among legitimate cargo or within the container structure itself. Still other methods of moving cocaine to Europe are the same as those going through Mexico and the Caribbean, including maritime vessels, fishing vessels, and couriers and air freight on commercial aircraft.[13]

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Colombian Cocaine and the US:

The illegal drug market in the United States is one of the most profitable in the world. As such, it attracts the most ruthless, sophisticated, and aggressive drug traffickers, creating a serious threat to the health and safety of American citizens. Thus, drug law enforcement agencies face an enormous challenge in protecting the country’s borders. Each year, according to the US Customs Service:

60 million people enter the United States on more than 675,000 commercial and private flights. Another 6 million come by sea and 370 million by land. In addition, 116 million vehicles cross the land borders with Canada and Mexico. More than 90,000 merchant and passenger ships dock at US ports. These ships carry more than 9 million shipping containers and 400 million tons of cargo. Another 157,000 smaller vessels visit our many coastal towns. Amid this voluminous trade, drug traffickers conceal cocaine, heroin, marijuana, MDMA, and methamphetamine shipments for distribution in US neighborhoods.[14]

Especially with the adaptability and changing dynamics of cocaine production, US efforts to prevent trafficking are becoming more and more difficult.

Also alarming is the modern level of cocaine abuse in the United States, with while it has stabilized, remains at high levels. The trafficking, distribution, and abuse of cocaine and crack cocaine have spread from urban environments to smaller cities and suburban areas in the country, bringing a commensurate increase in violence and criminal activity.

History of Cocaine:

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. Originally, cocaine was used in South America in the mid-19th century by natives of the region to relieve fatigue, for it was then considered an important source of nutrition and energy in a region that lacked other food sources and oxygen. Because of its health benefits, the coca leaf was chewed almost universally in some native communities and even used by doctors to treat medical patients. In 1609, Padre Blas Valera, an Incan chronicler, described the virtues of the coca plant in terms of its healing powers, both inside and out. He said, “Coca protects the body of many ailments, and our doctors use it in powdered form to reduce the swelling of wounds, to strengthen bones, to expel cold from the body or prevent it from entering, and to cure rotten wounds or sores that are full of maggots.”[15] At this time, many praised the effects of cocaine and did not associate habitual use with the negative consequences of its habitual use today.

It was not until 1855 that the isolation of the cocaine alkaloid was achieved by German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke, who named the alkaloid “erythroxyline”. Soon after, descriptions of the drug’s exhilarating effects cluttered papers and literature throughout Europe and the US, sparking a surge of curiosity about the drug. Many were even intrigued by coca’s economic potential. In 1863, a chemist named Angelo Mariani, having read a paper by an Italian doctor who had returned from witnessing firsthand the effects of cocaine on Peruvian natives, started marketing a wine called Vin Mariana which had been treated with coca leaves. The ethanol in the wine acted as a solvent which extracted the cocaine from the coca leaves, altering (albeit enhancing) the drink’s effect. Similarly, Coca Cola was invented in the US, using cocaine as one of its ingredients (this was only for a short time, however, until cocaine was discontinued from the drink using a chemical process in 1929 and replaced with a milder stimulant known as caffeine).

Cocaine use became very popular in the late 19th century, with many prominent figures praising its therapeutic and even recreational usage. [16] Renowned figures such as Ulysses S. Grant and Pope Leo XII claimed to have drunken Mariani’s cocaine-wine daily and appeared on a poster promoting the elixir. In Germany in 1879, cocaine was introduced into clinical use as a local anesthetic and used to treat morphine addiction. At this time, cocaine was still highly regarded as a helpful, healing, and energizing substance. Even psychologist Sigmund Freud was an advocate of the drug as he promoted cocaine as a safe and useful tonic that could cure depression and sexual impotence.[17] In his published work, Uber Coca, he wrote that cocaine causes:

“exhilaration and lasting euphoria, which in no way differs from the normal euphoria of the healthy person. You perceive an increase of self-control and possess more vitality and capacity for work…In other words, you are simply normal, and it is soon hard to believe you are under the influence of any drug… Long intensive physical work is performed without any fatigue…This result is enjoyed without any of the unpleasant after effects that follow exhilaration brought about by alcohol. . . Absolutely no craving for the further use of cocaine appears after the first or even after repeated taking of the drug…”

As its popularity increased, cocaine became available in numerous forms. In 1885, for example, the US manufacturer Park Davis and Co. sold cocaine in forms which included cigarettes, powder, and even a cocaine mixture that could be injected directly into the user’s veins with the included needle, thus initiating the use of direct injection of cocaine into one’s veins. The company continued the drug’s positive image as it promised that its cocaine products would “supply the place of food, make the coward brave, the silent eloquent and . . . render the sufferer insensitive to pain.”[18] Throughout Europe and the US, messages like these promoted cocaine as a liberating substance that seemingly provided one with energy, confidence, and self-control without any negative or addictive effects. This misperception would soon be refuted.

While cocaine enjoyed many years of positive publicity, literature in the late Victorian era began to portray the drug, not as an exhilarating elixir, but instead a substance of vice. At this time, evidence was found of cocaine’s addictive properties, catapulting the problem of cocaine abuse to the top of the American public’s political agenda. In fact, the psychosocial behavior that resulted when a habitual user was deprived of the drug coined the term “drug fiend,” as people discovered that addicts would do almost anything to obtain the drug—even murder (Narconon International). The dangers of cocaine abuse also became part of a moral panic that was tied to the dominant racial and social anxieties of the day. In 1903, the American Journal of Pharmacy stressed that most cocaine abusers were “bohemians, gamblers, high- and low-class prostitutes, night porters, bell boys, burglars, racketeers, pimps, and casual laborers.”[19] Over the course of the next few decades, as the American majority became more aware of the dangers of cocaine and the severity of the problem, concern mounted to an eventual public outcry to ban the social use of cocaine.[20] Beginning with the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914 and ending with the Dangerous Drugs Act in 1920 (at least for a while), cocaine was highly regulated and monitored until its eventual outlaw as a narcotic. Unfortunately, as with the opiates like heroin, the dangers of cocaine abuse were recognized by law makers after the fact. The market for cocaine had already been established and was deeply entrenched into American history and culture and is with us today.

For more than fifty years before its outlaw, cocaine and opium laced elixirs, tonics and wines were broadly used by people of all social classes in the US. Because there were no restrictions placed on acquiring these drugs in the early 1900’s, narcotics were an acceptable way of life for a large number of people, many whom were people of stature. Especially in the silent film industry, cocaine was fashionable and widely advocated by famous faces. Stars sent pro-drug messages from Hollywood promoting cocaine’s acceptability through testimonials and the examples they set by their well publicized lifestyles that reverberated throughout the nation and international world. To name a few: “the world’s most famous psychologist; the man that invented the light bulb; a stable of Hollywood silent film stars; and the inventor of the most popular soft drink in history—all on the pro-cocaine bandwagon.”[21] Thus, a cocaine culture deeply woven into the fabric of American life predated the prohibition policies enacted in the 1920’s, setting the stage for future drug trafficking.

Modern Usage:

|Table 1. Percentage of Americans reporting lifetime use of cocaine, by age group, 2002 |

|Age Group |Lifetime |Past Year |Past Month |

|12–17 |2.7% |2.1% |0.6% |

|18–25 |15.4 |6.7 |2.0 |

|26 and older |15.9 |1.8 |0.7 |

|Total population |14.4 |2.5 |0.9 |

|Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health. |

While the use of cocaine has stabilized since 1999 at significantly lower levels that at its peak in 1982 (when 10.4 million Americans, also 5.6 percent of the population, reportedly used cocaine), statistics indicate that cocaine is still widely present in the United States.

During 2000, there were an estimated 2,707,000 chronic cocaine users and 3,035,000 occasional cocaine users in the United States. According to What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, users spent $35.3 billion on cocaine in 2000, a decrease from the $69.9 billion spent in 1990. Americans consumed 259 metric tons of cocaine in 2000, a decrease from the 447 metric tons consumed in 1990.

|Table 2. Percentage of Americans reporting lifetime use of crack, |

|by age group, 2002 |

|Age Group |Lifetime |Past Year |Past Month |

|12–17 |0.7% |0.4% |0.1% |

|18–25 |3.8 |0.9 |0.2 |

|26 and older |3.9 |0.7 |0.3 |

|Total population |3.6 |0.7 |0.2 |

|Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health. |

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Results From the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings found that more than 33 million people age 12 and older (14.4%) in 2002 reported that they had used cocaine at least once in their lifetime (see table 1). More than 8 million Americans (3.6%) age 12 and older had used crack cocaine at least once in their lifetime (see table 2).

According to the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study, in 2002, 3.6% of 8th graders, 6.1% of 10th graders, and 7.8% of 12th graders surveyed reported using cocaine at least once during their lifetime (see table 3 on next page). Of the students surveyed, 2.5% of 8th graders, 3.6% of 10th graders, and 3.8% of 12th graders reported using crack within their lifetime (see table 4 on next page). The study also showed that, in 2002, 8.2% of college students and 13.5% of young adults (ages 19 to 28) reported using cocaine during their lifetime. Almost 2% of college students and 4.3% of young adults reported using crack cocaine during their lifetime.[22]

|Table 3. Percentage of students reporting cocaine use, 2001–2002 |

|  |Lifetime |Past year |Past month |

|Grade |2001 |2002 |2001 |2002 |2001 |2002 |

|8th grade |4.3% |3.6% |2.5% |2.3% |1.2% |1.1% |

|10th grade |5.7 |6.1 |3.6 |4.0 |1.3 |1.6 |

|12th grade |8.2 |7.8 |4.8 |5.0 |2.1 |2.3 |

|Source: Monitoring the Future Study. |

|Table 4. Percentage of students reporting crack use, 2001–2002 |

|  |Lifetime |Past year |Past month |

|Grade |2001 |2002 |2001 |2002 |2001 |2002 |

|8th grade |3.0% |2.5% |1.7% |1.6% |0.8% |0.8% |

|10th grade |3.1 |3.6 |1.8 |2.3 |0.7 |1.0 |

|12th grade |3.7 |3.8 |2.1 |2.3 |1.1 |1.2 |

|Source: Monitoring the Future Study. |

In another study, among the high school students surveyed in 2001 as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 9.4% reported using cocaine in their lifetime and 4.2% reported using cocaine in the 30 days before the survey. Hispanic students reported the highest percentage of lifetime cocaine use (14.9%), followed by white students (9.9%), and black students (2.1%). Male students (10.3%) were more likely than female students (8.4%) to report lifetime cocaine use.[23]

Thus statistics show that despite drug enforcement policies, cocaine use is still very prevalent throughout society, even among today’s youth.

Drug Enforcement Policy:

Coca Eradication:

Coca eradication is the most used method of killing coca plants in an effort to regulate and limit drug. These aerial eradication programs are coordinated by the US State Department Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) at the US Embassy in Bogotá and overseen by the Colombian National Police (CNP). Since April 1994, the CNP has used aerial chemical spraying to eradicate coca and opium poppy fields in Colombia. The aircraft used for spraying are maintained by the NAS, and piloted either by NAP contractors or CNP personnel. Because insurgents in the coca-growing areas continue a serious threat to CNP aircrafts involved in spray operations, the Colombian military provide force protection for the spraying operations. They secure the areas to be sprayed to ensure the safety of CNP and NAS personnel. According to the US State Department’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) for 2000, the GOC eradicated 47,000 hectares of coca.

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Plan Colombia and Regional “Spill-Over”:

Because serious political instability exists in Colombia, and because cocaine abuse in the United States is a continuous problem for all ages, the DEA strives to aid the Colombian government in its efforts to prevent international drug traffickers from using the country for money laundering or as a production area for illicit drugs destined for the US and other international markets. Doing so helps to strengthen Colombia’s ability to track, interdict, arrest, and successfully prosecute money laundering and drug smuggling organizations that operate in Colombia. In July 2000, the US Government (USG) enacted a comprehensive $1.3 billion assistance package in support of the GOC’s Plan Colombia, which in addition to other DEA counter-drugs operations. Plan Colombia, however, was not only intended to combat illicit drug trafficking, but also focused on Colombia’s peace process, economy, justice reform, human rights protection, democratization, and social development.

Under Plan Colombia the USG is providing equipment, training, and technical assistance to the CNP and the Colombian military to increase their capability for eradication of coca leaf and to conduct interdiction operations.

Conclusion:

Despite the fragmentation of the cocaine trade, the DEA anticipates that Colombian cocaine trafficking organizations will remain the dominant payers in the international cocaine trade will into the 21st century. Colombian traffickers are increasingly more self-sufficient in cocaine base production; more efficient in laboratory procedures; have a firm grip on Caribbean smuggling routes; and dominate wholesale cocaine markets in the eastern United States and in Europe.

The DEA, however, anticipates that some major cocaine trafficking groups will eventually diversify their product line to include heroin and synthetic drugs. Should this occur, the threat posed by Colombian heroin and synthetic drugs would increase due to the trafficking resources available to major cocaine trafficking organizations. These traffickers would be expected to use the transportation and wholesale cocaine distribution networks they have established over the last decade to expand their involvement in the US heroin and synthetic markets. Should these groups prove successful, it is likely that they will merge to some extent.

In terms of counter-drug policies for cocaine in Colombia, the DEA anticipates that the GOC will continue eradication operations and extradition of Colombian nationals, who are under indictment in the United States for drug trafficking.

Cocaine use, because it has become entrenched in American culture, will continue to reach high levels among all ages. Unfortunately, despite government regulation and enforcement efforts, people have and will continue to find ways of obtaining the drug. Thus, more efforts need to be directed at stopping cocaine production at the source.

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Works Cited:

Cocaine Information. 2002. Association for Better Living and Education International . 1 June 2005 .

"Colombian police find drugs sub." BBC News 26 Mar. 2005. 1 June 2005 .

DEA Intelligence Division. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “The Drug Trade in Columbia: A Threat Assessment.” Mar. 2002. May 2005 .

DEA Intelligence Division. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “Changing Dynamics of Cocaine Production in the Andean Region.” Jun. 2002. May 2005 .

United States. United States General Accounting Office. Report to Congressional Committees. June 2003. 1 July 2005 .

Walters, John P. Office of National Drug Control Policy. 15 Mar. 2005. May 2005

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World Drug Report. 2004. May 2005 .

Wikipedia. 27 May 2005 .

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[1] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.” .

[2] “Colombian Police Find Drug Sub.” BBC news.

[3] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.”

[4] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.”

[5] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.”

[6] “Changing Dynamics of Cocaine Production in the Andean Region.” Drug Intelligence Brief. June 2002. .

[7] “Changing Dynamics of Cocaine Production in the Andean Region.”

[8] World Drug Report 2004, Volume 1.

[9] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.”

[10] .

[11] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.”

[12] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.”

[13] “The Drug Trade in Colombia: A Threat Assessment.”

[14] “Drug Trafficking in the United States.” DEA Briefs and Backgrounds. .

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