Mexican cartels have perfected the production of cocaine

Emissaries of Mexican drug cartels are increasingly meddling in cocaine production in Colombia by paying growers and forcing the cultivation of high-yielding coca varieties, security officials and rights activists told Reuters.

Leading Mexican cartels such as the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion - which wield enormous influence in Mexico and use brutal violence in the fight to control drug routes - have long bought cocaine from Colombian guerrilla groups and criminal gangs.

But while they once acted as discreet buyers - and still avoid dealing directly with competitors - there is a growing presence of their emissaries in Colombia's cocaine-producing areas, residents and farmers told Reuters.

These cartels have introduced significant changes in the varieties of coca grown, leading to increased production of cocaine, according to Colombia's anti-narcotics police. Changes in the way coca is grown have contributed to a greater quantity and purity of cocaine being smuggled into the United States and Europe, police say.

Data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime also indicate increased production from new varieties of coca, and there is a noticeable increase in cocaine production over the last three years, despite the fact that the area where coca is grown has decreased.

The price of a kilogram of high-quality cocaine jumps more than 18 times to $30 at the US-Mexico border, while in the U.S. a kilogram of cocaine is worth $000

Cartels send emissaries to manage production and are also in charge of trade and transport, said General Fernando Murillo, head of the investigative unit of the Colombian National Police, for the British agency.

"They do this so that they can reliably know that the substance they are selling is pure," he said.

Coca growers, informants and arrested dealers described in detail to the police and army how Mexican emissaries carry out purity checks, maintain relations with a whole range of Colombian armed groups and negotiate prices, Murillo said.

Cartel agronomists

The extremely fruitful coca seed is the product of the work of experienced farmers and agronomists, financed by the cartels, said Gen. Ricardo Alarcon, director of the anti-narcotics police.

Over the past three years, his unit has recorded 14 adaptations to increase production. There is no evidence that the seeds are genetically modified, he pointed out.

UN, police and military sources, as well as growers and human rights activists, agree that the recent increase in production is due to the careful selection of high-yielding varieties.

One coca grower in Norte de Santander province told Reuters that cartel representatives and their Colombian business partners began distributing higher-yielding varieties two years ago, ordering farmers to cut their crops.

Although the area under coca cultivation decreased in 2020, in 2019 and 2018, estimated cocaine production and the average yield of cocaine hydrochloride per hectare increased during each of those years, UN data show.

During 2020, the latest year for which data is available, potential annual production increased by eight percent to 1.228 metric tons, while yield per hectare increased by 18 percent to 7,9 kilograms.

Potential production refers to the amount that would be produced if all coca leaves were processed into pure cocaine.

They pay for drugs with guns

Cartels add another element to the complex picture of violence in Colombia. Mexican gangs bring powerful weapons to Colombia from the United States to pay for cocaine shipments.

Paying coca suppliers with weapons instead of cash allows Mexican cartels to launder money and move it more easily, Murillo said. "Paying cash for drugs is getting harder every day. Therefore, they now use different methods; Mexican cartels pay with sophisticated weapons," he said.

Until the 1990s, Colombian guerrillas and members of right-wing paramilitaries mostly used Russian AK-47 machine guns left over from wars in Central America, security officials told Reuters.

As drug smuggling expanded and became more lucrative, armed groups switched to new AK-47s, American M16s and AP-15s and Israeli Tavor machine guns, police officials said. While some weapons in Colombia cost only 500 dollars, machine guns can reach as much as XNUMX dollars.

Exceptionally fruitful coca seeds are the product of the work of experienced farmers and agronomists, financed by Mexican cartels

The cartels also buy high-quality coca and cocaine from Colombian criminal organizations such as the Clan del Golfo, from rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) and former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARK), the guerrilla group that rejected a peace deal in 2016, they said. are security sources in the army and police for Reuters.

"It's a very pragmatic relationship," said Rafael Guarin in 2020, who was the national security adviser to Colombian President Ivan Duke. "The one who has control over the areas where coca is grown and over the laboratories and can meet the demand is the one who maintains relations with the Mexicans."

The presence of Mexican emissaries in coca-growing regions is visible, four people from Cauca, Narin and Norte de Santander told Reuters.

In one incident, ten men with Mexican accents at a coffee shop in Cauca, who were discussing truckloads of cocaine, became angry when a local got too close to them, said a waitress who overheard the conversation.

"We'll fill your stomach with lead," said one, pointing to the gun in his belt.

Reuters was able to confirm the details of the incident described by the waitress, who wished to remain anonymous, through security camera footage.

Adaptation of coca varieties

The cartels are financing the construction of laboratories and warehouses where shipments are coordinated, according to a police intelligence report seen by Reuters, and police sources say they are also financing makeshift docks and ships in the Pacific. Almost all shipments are marked with a logo used to control origin and quality, the report said.

Growers say they have no choice but to grow new varieties.

"When someone comes here armed, dressed in camouflage, or dressed as a civilian with a gun on his belt and tells me to plant these seeds, I just do what they say," said Fernando, a grower from Norte de Santander. "It's about my life and my family's life."

"We don't ask who is buying, or where they are from," he said, although he added that based on their accent, he believes that the visitors in his area are representatives of Mexican cartels.

Cocaine can be obtained from four strains of the Erithrokilum plant, three of which - novogranatense, coca and ipadu - are present in Colombia.

The climate depends on which strain will give the highest yield - with some varieties thriving in colder areas and others being more drought tolerant.

"It's about adapting the plant in different areas," said Alarcon, director of the fight against narcotics. "The producers of both coca leaf and cocaine hydrochloride actually use mutations."

Members of the national police noted the presence of varieties colloquially or commercially known as "tingomaria", "gin", "Bolivian black", "Bolivian red" in the regions of Norte se Santander and Narino, which are considered the largest producers of cocaine.

Growers are encouraged to change seeds regularly to further increase production and reduce the time between harvests, Alarcon said. Certain adaptations yield between four and six harvests per year, instead of the traditional three.

It is unclear whether the cartels prefer any particular modification.

More than half of the cocaine leaves Colombia along its Pacific coast, according to security forces. The key cartel alliance in the region is the one with FARK dissidents, Col. Jaime Zambrano, commander of the fourth infantry brigade, piloting a boat through the yellow water at a jungle estuary near Tumak in the Narino region, told Reuters.

Large planted areas and high demand mean business is going well. The price of a kilogram of high-quality cocaine jumps more than 18 times to $30 at the US-Mexico border, while a kilogram of cocaine is worth $000 in the United States, according to Colombian police.

In Colombia, due to poverty and a lack of economic opportunities, activists claim that farmers are attracted to the offers of cartels, who often pay in advance for the harvest.

"Drug smuggling is on the rise due to the complete withdrawal of the state. There is no dignified accommodation, there is no dignified health care, we do not have dignified education or employment", said Luis Alfredo Vasquez, the leader of the local community in Tumak. The situation is similar in Nort de Santander, where the growth of cocaine production has led to an increase in violence, but where growers feel the economic benefits.

"For the first time in many years, coca growers in the region are getting money in advance," said Vilfredo Canizares, president of the human rights group "Fundasion progresar".