Cocaine Industry: Description of the Structure and Economics of the Andean
The Andean cocaine industry has been one of the recent targets of America's War on Drugs, since the 1990s. As Lowry (2001) notes, "Between 1995 and 2000, the amount of land in Bolivia with coca cultivated on it declined from almost 50,000 hectares to fewer than 20,000. In Peru, the same period, land under cultivation for coca declined from 115,000 hectares to roughly 30,000". However, despite these strides forward, the production in Columbia doubled during this time, keeping the production of the coca crop the same as it had before the efforts in Bolivia and Peru. The structure of the industry is made up of powerful drug cartels. These cartels control the cocaine route from its beginnings in the coca fields to more than five thousand miles away where it ends up in American cities. There are millions of workers that are involved in the production and shipment of the cocaine. And, eventually it finds its way to even more users in America. Although most of the workers from fields to street sales will never see one another, they are all an integral part of the process ("Crack and cocaine, n.d.). Although all nations that are involved in the
The economic significance of the cocaine industry for the United States is significant. The Medellin and Cali cartels were two of the largest, best organized, drug cartels in the Andean cocaine industry. For this reason, Andean governments are hesitant to take action against the industry, as it is a vital source of revenue and employment for their countries. Legions of others earn a living by providing goods and services essential to the industry" ("International crime", n. Both had significant political influence. Cocaine is the largest export in the Andean nations of Peru, Bolivia and Columbia, in fact, it is Latin America's second largest export overall, following only petroleum. The Andean cocaine industry has considerable economic clout within the societies they originate from. Whereas both cartels were heavily involved with national and international banking, including a relationship with First InterAmericas Bank as a money laundering area. cocaine trade system repudiate the drug, it still flourishes. The governments' inaction on the war on drugs are the result of a variety of other economic factors as well.
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