Italian mafia organization ‘Ndrangheta is believed to control up to 80 percent of Europe’s cocaine imports.
Source: Tristan Dessert, “In the footsteps of the ‘Ndrangheta, the most powerful branch of Italian mafia,” Franc 24, May17, 2013.
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Cocaine
- Illicit Trade Value: Cocaine $85 Billion
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Latest Cocaine Information
Latest cocaine abuse news and information. Facts about the black market trade in cocaine is collected from health organizations, rehab centers, addiction experts, government officials and media articles.
In order to make 1 kilogram of cocaine, drug producers need to cultivate around 370 kilograms of coca leaf, or over 800 pounds. The producers need over two acres of land in order to grow enough coca leaf to create a kilo of cocaine.
Source: Associated Press, “Bolivia’s Challenge: Making Coca Palatable,” ABC News, May 8, 2013.
In Northern Mali, a cigarette smuggler is paid $200 (100,000- CFA Francs) for a single trip transporting tobacco across the Sahara Desert. If the same smuggler is transporting cocaine, then the smuggler would be paid $2,000.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that up to 18 tonnes of cocaine is smuggled through West Africa on its way to Europe. The cocaine has a street value of $1.25 Billion.
(See the price of cocaine per gram worldwide.)
Source: Afua Hirsch, “Cocaine flows through Sahara as al-Qaida cashes in on lawlessness,” Guardian, May 2, 2013.
Police agencies in Spain seized 20.7 tonnes of cocaine and 325.5 tonnes of hashish in 2012. The amount of cocaine seized was roughly 25 percent higher than the amount seized in 2011. The amount of hashish was down 8.5 percent from 2011.
The amount of cocaine seized in Spain represented 41 percent of all cocaine and 73 percent of all hashish seized in Europe in 2012.
Source: AFP, “Spain fights to lose status as drug gateway to Europe,” Google News, April 22, 2013.
From January to September 2012, security agencies in the Republic of Kosovo seized 1,091 kilograms of marijuana, 51.5 kilograms of heroin, 7.2 kilograms of cocaine, and 153 ecstasy tablets. The amount of illegal drugs seized in 2012 was higher than the amount of drugs seized in 2011.
Officials estimate that most drug users in the country are men between the ages of 18 to 35 who smoke marijuana.
Source: Menekse Tokyay, “Turkey and Balkans battle drug trafficking,” SETimes.com, April 22, 2013.
Basuco is a form of low grade cocaine that is widely used in Colombia.
In the city of Bogata, an estimated 7,000 users are living in the city, each taking up to 15 to 20 hits a day.
Each hit costs less than a dollar.
Source: Ted Hesson, “Fighting Drug Addiction With Marijuana,” ABC News, April 1, 2013.
From 2010 to February 2013, security officials in Costa Rica seized 22 tons of cocaine and 377,000 doses of crack cocaine.
Officials also destroyed almost 4 million marijuana plants within the country, and seized $10.5 Million in cash from drug trafficking organizations.
Source: Mario Garita, “Communities, police fight narco-trafficking,” Inside Costa Rica, March 28, 2013.
A survey of drug users in Australia found that 60 percent of cocaine users in the country had above-average income, with 25 percent earning over $103,000 (100,000 Australian).
The price of cocaine in Australia was reported to be $310 (300 AUS), with “luxury” cocaine being sold for $415 to $466 (400 to 450 AUS). The luxury cocaine is sold with the promise of having a higher quality, and most of the users who purchased the more expensive cocaine stated that it was worth it.
Source: Kate Hagan, “Paying through the nose for cocaine,” The Age, March 19, 2013.
An estimated 140 tons of cocaine is consumed each year in the European Union.
Source: Karafillis Giannoulis, “EU against drug trafficking in West Africa,” New Europe, March 18, 2013.
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) reported that there were 298,752 users of heroin and crack cocaine in England during the 2010-2011 time period. The number of those two drugs were lower than the 332,090 users in 2005-2006.
The number of heroin and crack cocaine users entering drug treatment programs was 47,210. Back in 2006, there were 64,288 users entering treatment programs.
In the 2009 to 2010 period, there were 306,150 users of heroin and crack cocaine in England.
Source: Alan Travis, “Number of heroin and crack cocaine users falls to record low, figures show,” Guardian, March 6, 2013.
