01 August 2008

Colombia & Cocaine

Good news for some and bad news for others as Colombia's National Police Chief, Oscar Naranjo, tells an anti-drug summit that Colombia's share of world production has fallen form 90% in 2002 to around 54% today.

That is a significant drop for sure and it must be hurting the drug cartels based in Colombia. Yet, my guesstimation would be that what is lost on the merry-go-round is made up on the swing. Someone else is more than likely picking up Colombia's slack.

What the reduction does say though is that the police in Colombia are having success in their crop eradication efforts, the removal of drug laboratories, and the prosecution of drug bosses. This has seen more than a million hectares of drug crops destroyed. In another success story more than 74 tonnes of cocaine has been seized in the first three months of 2008.

I still wonder about legalization and take the black market out of the trade. Another debate for another post, I suppose!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

damn it. the colombian national economy must be hurting too. i wonder who supplies the remaining 36% of the world cocaine demand? if there aren't any then it's the best time to dive in this business, no? wanna be my business partner in crime, rob? :p

Rob Baiton said...

Interesting thought!

There seems to be a supply gap forming :D

Unknown said...

Dear All,

I think this is helped by the natural progression to different illegal substances. Especially ones that can be manufactured in small kitchens from Cipete to Bekasi. This cuts the need for importing the finished product, but I'm no expert and I can't "cook" either.
Cheers

Rob Baiton said...

Different strokes for different folks, I guess!

I am not much of the amateur chemist myself. So, I guess, this is all out of my league as well.

pj said...

Personally I see very little benefit in this so called war on drugs. The only result that I can see is the creation of fantasticallly wealthy drug barons and a lot of poor junkies turning to petty crime to support an addiction. make it legal and let governments administer it. Chances are that under government administration the drug business will quickly become unprofitable and un-sexy.
Just my take on this whole issue.

You should do a post on legalisation Rob.

Rob Baiton said...

PJB...

I have been thinking about it. Maybe two pieces one from the Australian (NSW probably) perspective and then a second piece looking at the Indonesian perspective considering that the death penalty is in play here.

Unknown said...

Comparitively a very good post. I appreciate this blog. Interesting thought.


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alyssa

Crack Cocaine

Anonymous said...

"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." -- Vaclav Havel

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isabella

Crack Cocaine

Rob Baiton said...

Alyssa...

Thanks I guess. I did try and check out your profile but it is not publicly available. Comparative to what? My other posts or posts on cocaine and Colombia in general?

Isabella...

I could not agree more with Vaclav Havel. No matter how things turn out, if they make sense or we can make sense of them then perhaps we can see the hope!

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