Colombian cartels earn the most from cocaine that anyone else in the western hemisphere
During the 1980’s 70 to 80 percent of the refined cocaine and 50 to 60 percent of the marijuana available in the United States market came from Colombia
Colombian criminal organizations have become involved in nearly every aspect of the narcotics trade. This includes the financing of drug plantations and laboratories in Colombia to grow and produce, smuggling operations, and distributing it across borders. Colombian drug trafficking has created political, economic, and social changes within Colombia. Corruption and failure to maintain a legitimate government allowed for the cartel members to establish their own legitimacy within the Colombian community.
During the 1980’s 70 to 80 percent of the refined cocaine and 50 to 60 percent of the marijuana available in the United States market came from Colombia
Colombian criminal organizations have become involved in nearly every aspect of the narcotics trade. This includes the financing of drug plantations and laboratories in Colombia to grow and produce, smuggling operations, and distributing it across borders. Colombian drug trafficking has created political, economic, and social changes within Colombia. Corruption and failure to maintain a legitimate government allowed for the cartel members to establish their own legitimacy within the Colombian community.
The graph titled "Colombia Coca Boom" shows a spike in the year 2015 in the amount of Colombian Coca cultivations there were by acre. A peace deal was just recently struck between the Colombian government and the FARC, hoping to put an end to the violence and decrease the amount of Coca grown by Colombians farmers. The government implemented programs that eradicated crops through the spraying of pesticide by plains. Around 2014 though, they had to stop this because they found that the chemicals within the spray were causing cancer. When fields are destroyed by the government, farmers often turn to other crops to sustain an income. This, however, creates issues because farmers growing other crops besides cocaine do not make nearly the same amount as they would if they continued to grow cocaine. The market for cocaine is the highest among any other crop in Colombia.
The map below titled shows trafficking of Cocaine from Latin America other countries. It also shows Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia being the top three coca growers and cultivators in 2008 and 2010. The arrow directing to the United states is the thickest in size. The United States is the primary market for Colombian cocaine. Marijuana in the United states is majority grown in Colombia as well. Mexico is the primary point of of entry into the United States.