Government of Colombia Colombia Coca Cultivation Survey June 2006 Colombia Coca Survey for 2005 Abbreviations CICAD Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission COP Colombian Pesos DANE National Department of Statistics DEA US Drugs Enforcement Agency DIRAN Colombian Anti-Narcotics Police DNE National Narcotics Office DNP National Planning Department ICMP Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme INCB International Narcotics Control Board IDB Inter-American Development Bank IDP Internally Displaced People PDA Alternative Development Programme PCI Presidential Programme against Illicit Crops RSS Colombian Social Solidarity Net SIMCI II Integrated Illicit Crops Monitoring System UIAF Special Administrative Unit on Information and Financial Analysis UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. US$ United States Dollars Acknowledgements The following organizations and individuals contributed to the implementation of the 2005 coca cultivation survey in Colombia, and to the preparation of the present report: Government of Colombia: Ministry of Interior and Justice National Narcotics Office -DNE Colombian Anti-Narcotics Police -DIRAN Ministry of Defence Colombia Agency for International Cooperation –ACCI Presidential Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation UNODC: Rodolfo Llinás, SIMCI Project Coordinator Orlando González, Digital Processing Expert Sandra Rodríguez, Digital Processing Expert Zully Sosa, Digital Processing Expert Maria Isabel Velandia, Digital Processing Expert Martha Paredes, Research and Analysis Expert Leonardo Correa, Field Engineer Juan Carlos Parra, Editing Engineer Martha Luz Gutierrez, Administrative Assistant Javier Espejo, Assistant Engineer Juan Pablo Ardila, Assistant Engineer Sandro Calvani, Representative for Colombia Guillermo Garcia, National Programme Officer Coen Bussink, Remote Sensing and GIS expert (UNODC – Research and Analysis Section - ICMP) Denis Destrebecq, Regional Illicit Crop Monitoring Expert (UNODC – Research and Analysis Section - ICMP) Anja Korenblik, Programme Manager (UNODC – Research and Analysis Section - ICMP) Thibault le Pichon, Chief (UNODC – Research and Analysis Section) Thomas Pietschmann, Research Officer (UNODC-Research and Analysis Section) Martin Raithelhuber, Programme Officer (UNODC-Research and Analysis Section) Javier Teran, Statistician (UNODC – Research and Analysis Section – ICMP) The implementation of UNODC’s Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme in the Andean countries and the Colombia survey in 2005 was made possible thanks to financial contributions from the Governments of The United States of America (USAID), The Netherlands and United Kingdom. 2 Colombia Coca Survey for 2005 PREFACE The world’s appetite for cocaine remains stable but uneven, declining in the United States while increasing in Europe. In 2005 more than two thirds of the supply came from Colombia (640 tons), where coca cultivation increased by 8% over 2004: a discouraging outcome taking into account the resolute efforts of the Colombian Government to eradicate this illicit cultivation. However, this increase should be kept in perspective. The overall level of coca cultivation in Colombia remains almost 50% below the peak recorded in 2000. Furthermore, country-wide aerial eradication has become more difficult due to a growingly aggressive insurgency fuelled by the narco-economy (and vice versa). A further factor affected this Colombia coca crop survey for 2005: the need for UNODC – in co-operation with the Government – to develop a state of the art technique to measure (i.) the productivity of coca fields (coca leaves yield per hectare), and (ii.) the productivity of coca crops (hydrochloride yield per ton of leaves). In both instances it was found that current Colombia crops are more productive than previously estimated. As a result, Colombian cocaine production figures for 2004 and 2005 have been revised upwards to take into account this new evidence. These higher figures for the cocaine yield in Colombia suggest that there is more cocaine on the international market than previously believed. This may help explain why the price for cocaine has not gone up and the purity of doses has not declined on the streets of consuming nations, despite the halving in cultivation since 2000, the massive number of labs destroyed (1,953 in Colombia alone in 2005), and the dramatic (and still under-appreciated) increase in seizures world wide. Clearly, the 2005 increase of the area under cultivation (+6,000 ha) despite large-scale aerial eradication (139,000 ha) is a warning signal to the Colombian government and to those, like UNODC, that have participated in the joint drug control efforts. This signal should alert us to refine drug control policies in Colombia in order to take into account the more challenging security environment, and the inevitable difficulty of destroying coca fields fragmented in size, dispersed on steep mountain slopes, embedded in protected national parks, and grown in proximity to international borders. The overriding strategy of putting an end to coca cultivation through eradication must be pursued relentlessly. However, there should be a change in tactics using finer and more sustainable instruments. In particular, the second strong popular mandate received by President Uribe should make it possible for his new government to launch a major drive in favour of greater assistance to farmers in coca cultivation areas, accompanied by structural policies devised to redistribute land (especially land seized from drug lords) to internally displaced people. In Colombia, like in other countries, poverty in the countryside and lack of government control in many areas enable large-scale illicit activity and the resulting violence. While aerial spraying is cost-effective and keeps pressure on insurgents and organized crime, coca farmers need to be convinced to eradicate their own fields. Voluntary eradication backed up by strong economic incentives would give farmers a greater sense of ownership in the government’s zero-coca policies, and increase the chances of long-term success. The international community must share the responsibility for reducing the world’s biggest supply of cocaine. Cocaine consuming nations need to reduce demand for the drug, especially in Europe where abuse is rising. I invite them all to be more generous towards Colombia. Antonio Maria Costa Executive Director United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 3 Colombia Coca Survey for 2005 TABLE OF CONTENT 1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................... 8 2 FINDINGS.............................................................................................................................................................. 10 2.1 CULTIVATION ................................................................................................................................................. 10 2.1.1 Coca Cultivation....................................................................................................................................... 10 2.1.1.1 Regional analysis...............................................................................................................................................................19 2.1.1.2 Meta-Guaviare region........................................................................................................................................................21 2.1.1.3 Pacific region.....................................................................................................................................................................23 2.1.1.4 Central region ....................................................................................................................................................................25 2.1.1.5 Putumayo-Caqueta region..................................................................................................................................................27 2.1.1.6 Orinoco region...................................................................................................................................................................29 2.1.1.7 Amazonia region................................................................................................................................................................31 2.1.1.8 Sierra Nevada region .........................................................................................................................................................33 2.1.1.9 Possible areas of new cultivation.......................................................................................................................................35 2.1.1.10 Coca plant varieties............................................................................................................................................................37 2.1.1.11 Coca cultivation and poverty .............................................................................................................................................41 2.1.1.12 Coca cultivation and displacement ....................................................................................................................................43 2.1.1.13 Coca cultivation and the forest warden families programme.............................................................................................45 2.1.1.14 Coca cultivation