Cocaine price crash a blow for Colombian coca growers

Friday, May 26, 2023 at 2:10 AM by © AFP 2022



The price for coca has plummeted in Colombia. Photo: Andres Buitrago / AFP Source: AFP

"Carlos," a 36-year-old coca grower in Colombia, is stuck hanging onto kilos of the valuable paste used to make cocaine stashed under his bed. Normally, the illegal cache would be worth thousands of dollars, but a sudden dearth of buyers has left him high and dry and concerned about the future of his children.

Carlos is not his real name -- the grower wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from armed groups operating near his farm in Llorente in Colombia's southern Narino department, where increasing numbers of small-scale coca producers worry where their next meal will come from.

Their hands covered in scratches, groups of "raspachines" or expert coca pickers, advance at great speed through the sea of green crops in Llorente.

Once harvested, the coca leaves reach Carlos, who cooks them, along with a mixture of chemicals, on a small stove until they yield a white substance.

Read more: https://www.legit.ng/business-economy/1536329-cocaine-price-crash-a-blow-colombian-coca-growers/