Via CNBC
- Increased coca bush cultivation and improvements in the conversion process from coca plant to cocaine has helped production boom.
- Despite continued efforts by law enforcement to crack down on cocaine use, global demand for the drug has only grown.
- The curbs on passenger travel during the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the use of parcel and courier services for drug transportation.
Cocaine production is at its highest level on record, with demand rebounding post-pandemic and new trafficking hubs emerging, a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found.
The U.N.’s Global Report on Cocaine 2023 says new hubs for trafficking in the multibillion dollar industry have emerged in West and Central Africa in the last two years. New improvements and innovations in cultivation of the coca bush and conversion from coca plant to cocaine have also helped production boom — rising by 35% between 2021 and 2022 to record levels.
“The Covid-19 pandemic had a disruptive effect on drug markets. With international travel severely curtailed, producers struggled to get their product to market. Night clubs and bars were shut as officials ramped up their attempts to control the virus, causing demand to slump for drugs like cocaine,” the report said
Despite #COVID19, the global supply of cocaine is at record levels.
Almost 2000 t. were produced in 2020, continuing a dramatic uptick in manufacture that began in 2014.
Full data in the Global Report on Cocaine 2023: https://t.co/XWLZTPiHrO pic.twitter.com/fBvwn7HgXP
— UN Office on Drugs & Crime (@UNODC) March 16, 2023
Read more at
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/16/cocaine-production-is-at-its-highest-level-on-record-un-says-.html