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� � � | � � The majority of illicit cocaine comes from the Andean countries: Peru, Colombia, Bolivia. There are signs that small cultivation areas exist in other South American countries, such as: Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. �� After two decades of substantial increase, cultivation and coca production around the world have decreased in the decade of the 1990s. � � It is estimated that the existing 180 thousand hectares of coca produces more than 300 thousand tonnes of coca leaves. (These figures are based on low-performance estimates, so real production may be higher.) � � In Peru, coca leaf production has been reduced by 40 per cent in the past two years. On the other hand, in spite of the strenuous efforts Colombia has made to eliminate and repress coca production, cultivation increased in regions not controlled by the government. � � According to current estimates, Peru is the leading producing country with 118,000 tonnes in 1997. Bolivia and Colombia produce similar quantities (93,000 and 91,000 tonnes, respectively). However, Colombian estimates are based on low performance rates. In view that the production of coca leaf in Colombia has increased, it is probable that productivity has increased as well. Colombia's coca leaf production is of higher yield than Bolivia's and probably quite similar to Peru's. � � Applying moderate rates of conversion of coca leaf into cocaine, in 1997, from 800 to 1,000 tonnes of drug were manufactured. Between 1995 and 1996, 300 tonnes of cocaine were seized, representing from 500 to 700 tonnes for drug use. In the same period, an average of 700 tonnes of coca leaf was seized which equals to 2,1 tonnes of cocaine. Source: UNDCP � |
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