The global cocaine boom: Inside Colombia’s new drug empire and its expanding reach

In Colombia’s Cauca province, the lush mountains of Micay Canyon are now home to one of the world’s most potent cocaine supply lines. Nearly every patch of fertile land is blanketed with coca, and farmers like 64-year-old Cesar Rosero are reaping larger harvests with improved cultivation techniques. Rosero’s 10-acre farm, once limited to three annual harvests, now yields five, thanks to scientific improvements in coca plant varieties. “We’re totally thankful for this plant,” he says, brushing his hand across rows of bright green leaves.
According to Rosero, modern crops produce higher yields of the alkaloid compound that fuels global cocaine demand. Where 25 pounds of dried coca leaves once yielded 18 grams of alkaloid, they now yield 25 grams. UN and US officials estimate that Colombia produced a staggering 3,000 tons of cocaine last year—eight times more than in 2012, when eradication efforts peaked under Plan Colombia, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Eradication declines, supply explodes
Plan Colombia, launched in 2000 with billions in U.S. aid, used aerial fumigation to wipe out coca crops, reducing cultivation by 70% by 2012. But the program was abandoned in 2015 amid public pressure. Since then, coca cultivation has surged to 625,000 acres—55% more than at the start of the century—fuelling an explosion in global supply.
Despite the glut, demand and retail prices remain high. In markets as far-flung as Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, the drug fetches record prices. In Australia, one kilo can sell for over $200,000—up to ten times more than in Miami. The result: trafficking groups are willing to risk more and ship more.
Cocaine navies and narco-subs reshape trafficking
The booming supply has led organised crime to supercharge logistics, according to the Wall Street Journal. One major innovation: narco-subs. These semisubmersible vessels can now transport multi-tonne loads across oceans. In one October bust, the US Coast Guard seized five tonnes of cocaine aboard a 90-foot-long semisubmersible en route to Australia—cargo valued in the hundreds of millions.
“They’ve got so much product that losing some doesn’t even matter anymore,” said Matt Donahue, former DEA global operations head. Traffickers are taking more risks because they can afford to.
From the field to the lab: a streamlined drug chain
Coca leaves from Micay Canyon are processed in rustic, open-air labs into coca base. Workers mix the leaves with gasoline, sulfuric acid, and lime to extract the active compound. At more advanced facilities along Colombia’s Pacific coast, chemists refine this base into white cocaine powder using increasingly efficient methods. While labs once needed three kilos of coca base to produce one kilo of cocaine, they now need just one.
These production advances are spreading. Coca plots have been discovered in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, while processing labs are popping up in Senegal, Spain, Belgium, and other countries. Coca base is now smuggled dissolved in rubber, clothing, animal hides, and even paint, allowing gangs to extract it later.
The US remains the largest market—but no longer alone
Although US consumption has remained steady, global usage is growing. In 2022, the UN estimated 23 million people used cocaine—up from 18 million in 2016. Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are becoming major consumers. In the US, the cocaine landscape is changing: dealers deliver by text, and lab tests reveal that a quarter of street cocaine now contains deadly fentanyl.
“The threat to the United States and our global partners is rising,” said Derek Maltz, acting DEA director.
Why farmers still prefer coca
Despite record supply, coca remains economically attractive for many Colombian farmers. Legal crops like cacao and coffee take a year to harvest, while coca offers income every three months. In Micay Canyon, coca supports entire towns—from agriculture to hotels and motorcycle dealerships. “We’re inundated with coca,” said grower Luis Cordoba, who invented a motorised device to strip leaves faster.
Although Colombia has launched new crop substitution programs, only a fraction of the 230,000 coca-dependent families have transitioned. “That will take time,” said Gloria Miranda, head of the government’s substitution programme.
Global distribution expands with sophisticated networks
Australia is among the countries hardest hit by the new wave. Cocaine use there rose 19% from 2022 to 2023. The drug is trafficked across vast oceans using narco-subs and cargo ships. Once near the Australian coast, it’s offloaded onto fishing boats or pleasure craft.
This global shift echoes smuggling patterns from Prohibition-era America, but today’s vessels are vastly more capable. Colombia’s navy has tracked semisubmersibles built not only at home but also in Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, capable of 3,500-mile voyages to Europe and Africa. In 2023, the Portuguese navy seized one carrying 6.5 tonnes of cocaine near the Azores.
“What used to be a one-boat operation through the Caribbean is now a sprawling global network,” said Capt. González of Colombia’s navy. “You never stop being astonished. As long as there are big profits, they’ll invent anything.”
A hard truth for policymakers
The resurgence of cocaine is a sobering reality for US and Colombian officials who once declared victory. “The minute you let up, they come back with a vengeance,” said former Colombian ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno. Now, the battlefront has widened—from Colombian jungles to West African ports to Australian marinas.
As traffickers adapt, build better networks, and reach new markets, the question for global drug policy is not just how to contain the cocaine trade—but whether that’s still possible at all.