Colombia's cocaine production triples as new armed groups drive surge

Colombia's cocaine output has risen three‑fold over the past decade, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The increase is no longer linked to the left‑wing guerrilla group FARC, which signed a peace deal in 2016, but to a new generation of armed factions that are motivated primarily by profit, says indigenous leader Nora Taquanas.

These groups have introduced higher‑yield coca varieties and refined processing methods, doubling the amount of cocaine that can be extracted from each leaf. Former vice‑president Humberto de la Calle, who helped negotiate the 2016 peace accord, now calls the situation a “complete failure,” noting that the armed groups are now embedded within ordinary communities, making military intervention problematic.

European demand fuels the rise: the European Medicines Agency recorded a seizure of 419 tonnes of cocaine in 2023, and consumption in Europe now rivals that of the United States. The surge underscores the challenges of curbing illicit drug flows despite peace agreements and highlights the growing role of profit‑driven criminal networks in Colombia.