Domestic Implications of Illicit Colombian Drug Production and Trafficking

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Abstract
In recent years Latin American countries have become a principal source of narcotic drugs for the United States market. Mexico, once the fount of 85% of the heroin consumed by American addicts, still supplies approximately 30% of the drug. Peru and Bolivia grow a combined total of 60 million kilos of coca leaf annually, more than twice the amount needed for legitimate use. The remainder is either processed into cocaine for direct shipment abroad or smuggled in base form through Ecuador into Colombia, where chemists distill tons of the prized white powder that sells for $100 gram in diluted form on the streets of Chicago, Montreal, and Frankfurt. Colombia also surpassed Mexico in the late 1970s in marijuana production and currently holds the dubious honor of being the world's leading manufacturer of illicit methaqualone. Methaqualone base, originally smuggled in from Hungary, is currently believed to originate in mainland China.

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