Despite Rise in Fentanyl Use, U.N. Says Cocaine Production at Record Numbers

Despite predictions that cocaine sales would plummet amid the ongoing rise of fentanyl, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime announced that crops of coca – cocaine’s main ingredient – rose 13 percent last year in Colombia to hit a record 568,342 acres, while its potential cocaine production rose 24 percent to 1,738 metric tons per year, Luis Jaime Acosta reports for Reuters. In addition, the deputy director of Colombia’s national police said that coca production is taking place in new areas and fresh trafficking routes are opening up and security sources say Ecuador has become a major stepping stone for exporting Colombian cocaine.