In October 2015, the leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, narrowly escaped capture
after breaking out of prison in July. El Chapo Guzman’s reign as Mexico’s most dangerous
drug kingpin saw millions of dollars of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines smuggled
into the United States? So, where exactly do most of those drugs come from to begin
with?
Well, one of the most trafficked drugs, Cocaine, primarily originates in South America. 90%
of cocaine entering the United States crosses through Mexico, with most of it coming from
Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Despite the breakup of Colombia’s infamous cartels, led by kingpins
like Pablo Escobar, the cocaine trade is still a booming business. In 2010, just under 400
metric tons are estimated to have travelled towards US borders. In Colombia, coca leaf
production occupies a total area roughly the size of New York City.
Methamphetamine is also prevalent in the United States, and for a long time was made locally,
in what are referred to as “meth labs”. However, strict laws on the sale of methamphetamine
production materials have shifted the overwhelming majority of meth labs into Mexico. There,
superlabs can create up to 1,000 pounds at a time, compared to a pound or less in US
labs.
And while Mexico is also responsible for smuggling nearly all the heroin in the US, it actually
originates on the other side of the globe. The largest source of opium farms is in Southeast
Asia, Southwest Asia, and Latin America. In particular, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam
make up the Golden Triangle of opium production, while Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan make
up the Golden Crescent. Some 90% of the world’s opium is thought to come from Afghanistan
alone. Despite the US occupation of the country in 2001, production has actually tripled in
the past decade. A huge portion of US heroin is also made from Colombian and Mexican opium
operations as well.
But what about marijuana, the most consumed illicit drug in America? Well, in the United
States, imported weed often comes from Mexico. However, as several states have legalized
or decriminalized the drug, more potent and cheaper varieties of marijuana are grown in
the US. Over the past few years, this drug trade has seen a shift away from Mexican marijuana.
But for the rest of the world, a majority of weed comes from Afghanistan. In 2010, they
were producing up to 100 square miles of weed crops annually, with no sign of slowing down.
Although the US’s War on Drugs has been ongoing since 1971, overall drug use has been
relatively unaffected. In fact, the UN estimates that the global drug trade is worth nearly
half a trillion dollars a year. In a marketplace with plenty of demand, there seems little
chance of stopping the massive worldwide exchange of narcotics.
The global drug trade may be huge, but drugs aren’t the only illicit items with large
markets. Learn more about the world’s top smuggled items in this video. Thanks for watching
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