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Ernesto Benavides / AFP - Getty Images, file
A police officer stands amid packages of cocaine seized along with other materials in anti-drug operations in Peru, during a presentation to the press in Lima on May 18, 2012. More than 1.5 tons of cocaine were confiscated.
Peru has again become the top producer of pure cocaine in the world, outpacing Colombia, where output fell by an estimated 25 percent in a year, according to a White House report issued Monday.
Drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Monday that potential cocaine production in Colombia was down by 72 percent since 2001. Colombia now ranks third, behind Bolivia in addition to Peru.
"Potential production of pure cocaine in Colombia is down to 195 metric tons (in 2011) from 700 metric tons in 2001, the lowest production potential level since 1994 and the first time since 1995 that Colombia is producing less cocaine than either Peru or Bolivia," Kerlikowske said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Peru was the leading producer of cocaine.
The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime released an estimate last week that Colombia could produce 345 metric tons of cocaine in 2011.
Kerlikowske' s office said the drop in Colombia cocaine production has coincided with a decline in U.S. cocaine overdose deaths, positive workplace drug tests, the purity of cocaine available for street purchase and domestic cocaine seizures.
All of Mexico’s presidential candidates, including Enrique Pena Nieto, the clear front-runner, are vowing to reduce violence, but that could mean easing up on the drug cartels. NBC’s Mark Potter reports.
"Let me add some context to these results. They didn't happen overnight, there was a sustained effort requiring nearly a decade of steady, strategic pressure across more than one administration in both the United States and Colombia."
But while he called the decrease in production in South America was encouraging, he said the fight against Mexico's drug cartels "pose a significant challenge."
Steve McCraw, the Texas Director of Public Safety, says that there is a significant criminal threat from Mexico drug cartels that are smuggling drugs throughout his state and the nation.
"These numbers are certainly heartening, but they should not distract us from the fact that the transnational criminal organizations that supply cocaine are a threat to civil society everywhere, as we've seen with our southern neighbor Mexico," he added. "This Administration condemns the gruesome drug-related violence and is committed to partnering with the Mexican government to disrupt the cartels that commit such brutality."
Mexico's drug war: No sign of 'light at the end of the tunnel'
Plan Colombia
Kerlikowske said the decline in Colombian cocaine production is largely the result of Plan Colombia, a $7.5 billion U.S.-backed effort launched in 1999 to help the South American government crack down on a left-wing insurgency and drug organizations.
"The results are historic and have tremendous implications, not just for the United States and the Western Hemisphere, really globally," Kerlikowske said.
Mariana Bazo / Reuters, file
An anti-narcotics worker burns a bag containing cocaine during a drug incineration in Lima, Peru, on June 27, 2012.
"We don't just have a far safer Colombia, we have a vibrant Colombia that is an active partner in helping with the drug and criminal issue in the region," he added.
Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos said the decline is part of his country's overall strategy of cutting off funding sources for drug traffickers. Speaking in the town of Rio Negro, north of Bogota, Colombia, he said it was good news that Colombia is now third in cocaine production.
Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said the government is also making strides in seizing cocaine, pointing to the confiscation of about 300 tons of the drug in the last two years.
Mexican drug cartels are increasingly recruiting American kids, some as young as 12, to smuggle drugs into the United States. The U.S. Border Patrol aims to deter kids from smuggling with anti-drug trafficking programs in school, but despite those efforts, law enforcement along the border says the problem is growing.
U.S. Ambassador Michael McKinley told El Tiempo newspaper that "the numbers demonstrate historic advances in ending the fight against drugs in Colombia."
Speaking Monday, Kerlikowske said while the decline in Colombian production is a positive development, it is not a sign that powerful and deadly drug cartels are going out of business. Instead, he said, these groups, including those waging a drug war against each other and the government in Mexico, will "turn to anything illegal that makes money."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Peru overtakes Colombia as top cocaine producer - ? ? ?
Is that good news or bad ? ? ?
So did Eric and Berry get a pay raise or pay cut ? ? ?
7.5 billion to knock Columbia out of the #1 spot. So now we can spend 7.5 billion to knock Peru out of the #1 spot, and then another 7.5 billion to knock Bolivia out of the #1 spot. Even if the amount seized continues to be relatively small, I'm pretty sure this makes the U.S. government the #1 purchaser of coccaine in the world.
Peru: We're #1!
denver has a good point. Was it actually worth it to the American public to simply shift the center of production to another banana republic at such great cost? Seems unlikely. So now our government will play some more musical chairs with billions in public funds so that these employees of bloated federal agencies can keep getting a paycheck on the public dime? Tell me again the arguments against welfare, please, and then tell me how this concept significantly differs.
Ship them weapons they'll battle it out themselves, either way the price will drop for those Hollywood stars.
Are we still the #1 consumer?
Mexican cartels run it all now from Columbia to Peru to Africa and Europe. But Peruvian yay? Nothing new ; ]
Cheers
Users are shifting from Cocaine to Meth because Meth can be made in Mexico and that is what Mexican cartels are marketing to cut out South America. The whole Mexican cartel drug infrastructure is dependent on the fact that marijuana is perceived by many as harmless and has a wide user base even though it is still illegal. The most harmful drugs piggy back off of marijuana distribution. Outlaw Alcohol again and the violence and drug distribution would sky rocket and these narco gangs will be larger and there would be more of them.
Get ready for the retirement of " PLAN COLOMBIA" remember that one?
Get ready for ' PLAN PERU" and "PLAN BOLIVIA" and all the multi Billions that go with the USA PAYMENT FOR THE PLAN.
With these producers shipping ALL OVER THE WORLD who else is payinf for these PLANS?
The title of this article is deceiving. It puts Peru as top producer, but is it because their output increased? or did it simply not decrease as much as it did in Colombia.
Hard to arrive at a good conclusion with incomplete data.
This country has become unbelievable. We have become a bunch of cry babies and complainers. You can't even have a story like reducing drugs without politics and finger pointing. I guess it's true what's been said about opinions. They're like a-holes and they all stink.
That's my opinion and maybe it too stinks but it's the way it's becomer since the internet allows anonymous comments. Many people say things here that they would never say in person.
Wonder if it's too late to change my flight.
We're spending money everywhere but on our own country. It seems that meth is a bigger problem than cocaine anyways. Some people will never be rich enough, what a waste of our money.
The drug war is a scam. Its all about milking the public for as much profit as possible. Everyone involved is making cash hand over fist, except the taxpayer who is footing the bill. The dealers love the laws, its pure profit. The entire justice system makes the majority of its bread and butter off drug related crime. How many cops, lawyers, private prison owners, are making their living off these prohibition laws? Most of them, thats how many..
If drugs are legalized, it will cost jobs. A lot of jobs, all taxpayer carried jobs. The upside,.. it will create even more non-taxpayer jobs, all private business jobs that produce a product. Business that produces tax revenue, not lives off it.
Legalization is control over drug sales. Keeping it away from minors, just like with alcohol.
WTF! You want less expense be a better citizen. I say they ought to put a Bounty on Pushers heads, Dead or Alive. Than tell me and people like me Have At! If your pictures on a poster, your dog meat. Than I suppose you would say Bounty Money is a scam to!
PERU ! how about right here in the US and are HUGE problem of oxycontin abuse thats killing are kids and those drug companies that are allowed to continue making a drug thats abused 99 percent of the time thats because somebody up there on capital hill has pockets full of Us drug company
the goverment cant fix a problem under there nose but there patting themselves on the back for wasting are money on the fake waste of time drug war 8 thousand miles away how about cleaning up the @!$%# in your own back yard first
Washington's secret cartel I like that.
REally? Create jobs? What about all the crack ehyads who will require rehab and treatment? Oh, not responsible you say? We hold corporations here responsible for there product, you cant sell something and say...sorry cant help you!! Your business will tank and now you have just broke even or even LOST money because evryone will need to get off of the drug, not to mention some of the mayhem, lawsuits etc. Keeping it away from minors? We can barely keep cigarettes out of 13 year olds mouths as IS. Alcohol? I got slosh faced at 14 as the norm in highschool. I think we need to get an awareness program to our young generation tio see the other side of life other than through beer goggles and altered perceptions in our little fantasy worlds. Easy solution to the drug war, GET OFF THE DRUG TEET!
It's a scam, just like the Iraqi war. Some one out there is making a lot of money out of this. It's a win win situation for them. They make a lot of money from making and selling drugs and a lot of money from the tax payers who pay for "The War On Drugs".
You dummy: (hey that's his name, really)
Wouldn't that create jobs for medical workers and people in the rehab business? And what makes you think if drugs were legalized everyone is going to run our and start using crack? Everyone knows how dangerous crack is so why would there be a rush to try it?
Who said that? I keep rereading the posts and nowhere did anyone say that. Your making up stuff and putting words into peoples mouths.
Again, what makes you think everyone one will become addicted? Where does it say that with legalization, everyone is going to become an addict?
Mayhem? What mayhem? Drugs are available now, though illegal, so where is the mayhem? Sure, there are drug problems with addiction and crime, but I don't see any mayhem. So why would there be mayhem with legalization?
That's odd. I live right down the street from a middle school and during the school year I don't see all of the 13yos smoking cigarettes. In fact, I don't see any kids smoking cigarettes. I do believe you are exaggerating.
What year were you born? Was the drinking age 18 back then? Or was it that you got your alcohol from an adult who broke the law? So are you saying because it was so easy for you to get alcohol as a minor we should outlaw alcohol again? Yeah, that worked like a charm in the 20s/30s.
The only fantasy world I see is the one you are living in with all of the mayhem and fear mongering.
Talk about living in a fantasy world! Do you really think "Just Say No" would actually work? Hmmm, where have I heard this before? Oh wait, they tried that over 30 years ago and, well, we know the results of that strategy.
Welp. Time to move to Peru! lol
It's really good to hear that Peru finally took the top spot. I have been rooting for Peru for many years. They worked hard, trained daily, and kept the faith. Their efforts finally paid off. Overtaking Columbia was no small task. Columbia has owned the top spot for so many years. This proves that with a dedicated effort, you can achieve your goals. Congratulations to Peru.
If the DEA isnt cartel welfare i dont know what would be...
Juan Valdese is gonna be PISSED! LOL , Coffee beans my @ss!
Spreading the Wealth! WHY Can't the US do THAT!
Let's start small and work our way up. Send me 25% of your money.
As long as the USA buys it someone will supply it ! Either hang the dealers and users or make it legal
I'll take legalization over murder any day.
Congratulations Peru! You have done so much to drag down humanity, you're deserving of the Nobel Prize.
From Obama's autobiography and his admitted drug use, I wonder if Peru got some of Obama's stimulus money like Finland, Mexico and China?
Is cocaine production an Olympic Event yet?
If it is. I want to compete in the Long Line ! Of course that would be 30 years ago.
Cocaine Production No..........Smoking Maybe ;)
Peru is #1. Your tax dollars at work!
Yes cocaine deaths are down thats because Oxcontin is killing people an american drug made by american drug companies and a blind eye by the goverment because somebody getting paid filling there pockets in DC the drug companies are allowed to produce a drug thats 99 percent abuse how about fixing this problem thats inside our borders It seems nobody buying the drug war bull@!$%# anymore
Are you kidding? That would make sense and, besides, what about the profits? I mean politicians need money for their campaigns and their owners need to make a lot of money to invest in their careers.
Yay America!
Craig:
I agree with you wholeheartedly but can you do us a small favor and use the period button on your keyboard? It would make reading your posts so much easier.
Thanks.
Peru obviously does not have a war on drugs or this never would have happened. They better declare war on drugs before it's too late!
The war on drugs is over fourty years old and there is still no exit strategy. We are not winning it. There will be a black market for drugs until we legalize drugs. You would think after the money and years we have wasted on this project more people would realize the war has increased crime instead of reducing it. Al Capone and buddies liked Prohibition though. They made millions and had an emdless suppply of people that would work for them while increasingly their salary tenfold. Just like today,
"Al Capone and buddies like" the Kennedy and the Bush families?
Odd that in the drug czar's pompous finger-pointing, there seems to be no mention of the fact that the U.S. is the world's number one consumer of drugs. Americans will pay any price -- including torture and murder of innocents -- to feed their drug habit. Yet the U.S. has done virtually nothing to curb its addiction. The U.S. is the root of the problem, not the source of the solution.
Cochinon:
WRONG!!! The root of the problem is the spectacularly failed and costly war on drugs and drug prohibition. The torturing and murdering of innocents is a direct result of drug prohibition and the drug war. The violence and deaths are associated with ILLEGAL drug trafficking.
Legalization, decriminalization, and education are key to ending the violence and deaths associated with illegal drug trafficking.
El Stupido!
americas problem is oxycontin not cocaine and the us goverment is doing nothing!!!! us drug company money rules and makes a drug thats abused 99 percent of the time big bussiness and the result a blind well paid eye of the us goverment and our kids lifes ruined
The 'Plan Colombia" is the smoke screen for the US Pharmaceutical Cartel.
Quit this endless, billion dollar, ton of manpower drug war for good. Make MOST of this stuff legal and TAX IT and CONTROL IT and put a good portion of the tax dollars towards TREATMENT. Make it ILLEGAL to smoke (pot) or do drugs IN PUBLIC or around children. Make it illegal to operate machinery or drive. Remember Al Capone? Prohibition was SO BAD, the states passed a SECOND CONSTITUIONAL AMENDMENT overturning it. How hard is that to get done? Try it today! Good luck. Leave these other countries alone. Control who sells it. Control who importst it. If the "drug war" was working, I would say OK, this idea is bad but the "drug war" is NOT only NOT working, it is worse than ever, a complete failure.
I say legalize all of it otherwise there will still be a black market to fill the demand. Legalization, initially, will not eliminate the black market. Hell, the black market will always be there to some extent. But, why keep anything illegal that will give them great profits? That's including prostitution.
Legalize and regulate it all and take it out of the hands of organized crime.
ITS THE SHELL GAME hey look over there cocaine in peru !
WHILE THE OXYCONTIN EPIDEMIC RUNS WILD IN THE US
quit picking on oxycontin, it's a reasonably priced alternative for some.
Cocaine is just not that popular anymore either look around you drug use is still up and our govt is going bankrupt trying to throw everyone in jail over it.
OXYCONTIN is a drug habit people that people steal , rob for and even kill for and most home break ins are Oxycontin users they will steal the copper pipes right out of your walls to support there habits
OXYCONTIN SHOULD BE THE HEADLINER HERE NOT COCAINE IN PERU!
HOW ABOUT PUTTING A LITTLE LIGHT ON THAT
Craig and David
Oxycontin may be the biggest problem "prescription" drug on the streets. Around here heroin and meth are becoming more and more popular. Meth's "Shake n Bake" method is fast and cheap and heroin is becoming easy to get again due to increased production and distribution (thanks Taliban & al Qaeda) . Cocaine on the other hand has at times been in short supply. The less coke thats available means less cheap Crack on the street to score. People will then find something else thats cheap. Dudes are just supplying what people want .
I heard that because of the crack down on prescription drugs people are turning to heroin and meth more.
Peru, the top cocaine producer. Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami, Philadelphia the top users.
Yes and if they could just buy it at walgreens od and die then we wouldnt have a bunch of criminals on the streets robbing for money to buy it because govt regulation put a bottleneck on the supply driving up the cost. Simple economics people supply and demand. Im tired of my tax dollars keeping nazi cops in cushy jobs!
Better, yet we distribute the hard drugs through medically supervised clinics where the users get their fix and don't have to resort to crime to pay for their drugs. That would cut down on crime, STD transmission, and death from ODs.
You advocating for people to die or OD is disgusting.
Cocaine? We don't need no stinkin' cocaine!!!
Teen Heroin use up;
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-06-20/news/32339720_1_heroin-addicts-heroin-overdose-heroin-abuse
Pharmies are a gateway drug?
http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/19/12303942-painkiller-use-breeds-new-face-of-heroin-addiction?lite
I find it very odd that we pull out of an area in the Middle East known for poppy production and Heroin comes with it...
Just like Nam, go figure.(sarcasm)
No method of control will work either. If there is a demand there will be a supply.
Peru is just going to be another WOD failure funded by the US citizens and their deep pockets...
Are you gonna take that? C'mon Columbia.
Perhaps instead of fighting Muslim terrorists in the middle east you could be concentrating on a group that is affecting far more Americans than a bunch of ragheads a half a world away. Send the military. They are criminals, they can't claim religious discrimination, The Mexican gov. can't control them so like the countries in the middle east who want us to go get the "bad" guys we would have the blessing of the host country. We can't beat a group of people using IEDs maybe we could do better against a well equipped advisory who is getting weapons form the US already. The (drug cartel) are more universally viewed as bad than the terrorists.