Record cocaine production and high demand for the drug contributed to criminal violence across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023, as traffickers established new routes to bypass increasing interdiction efforts.
Two countries are indicative of how drug trafficking remains a major driver of violence in the region. Ecuador continues to seize historic amounts of cocaine and in 2023 had its most violent year on record as drug trafficking groups competed for strategic routes. Costa Rica was similarly impacted, with its homicide rate increasing by 41% year-on-year amid an ongoing struggle to control cocaine trafficking through its ports.
But some countries saw major increases in cocaine seizures while being spared violence. In places like Bolivia and Peru, where much of the world’s coca leaf is grown, authorities seized more cocaine last year than in 2022, while homicides stayed low. Nonetheless, the seizures for both those production nations combined were less than Ecuador, raising questions about their capacity and commitment.
And in the Caribbean, home to many of the region’s most violent nations, increased interdiction efforts in traditional cocaine hubs like the Dominican Republic have driven drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) to shift to different transit points for their cocaine consignments.
Colombia
In Colombia, the world’s perennial top cocaine producer, authorities seized 739.5 tons of cocaine, 450 tons of which were confiscated in international territories, according to the Defense Ministry. This is a 12.1% increase over the 659 tons seized in 2022.
The increase in cocaine seizures is a result of the government prioritizing interdiction as production continues to rise. This is part of the government’s broader drug policy, which aims to shift the focus away from coca growers and cocaine consumers while boosting the government’s ability to seize drug shipments and capture key members of drug trafficking rings.
Throughout Colombia, large coca leaf harvests created a substantial increase in supply. This, combined with the multitude of trafficking routes moving the drug out of the country and the uncertainty driven by continued fighting in Colombia’s cultivation zones, caused coca prices to collapse.
Peru
Peru, the world’s second-most important producer, seized 4.4% less cocaine, but 53% more coca base in 2023 compared to the previous year. Coca production has expanded beyond traditional hubs, such as the Valley of the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers (Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro – VRAEM) into Indigenous lands and the border departments of Loreto, Ucayali, and Puno. Moving beyond the rough terrain of the VRAEM to areas along the Brazilian and Bolivian borders allows easier transport to consumer markets, principally through the Brazilian routes.
Bolivia
Bolivia saw a dramatic 62% increase in cocaine seizures from 2022 to 2023. The country seized 33 tons of cocaine in 2023, compared to 20.3 in 2022, according to data from Bolivia’s anti-narcotics police (Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Narcotráfico – FELCN).
The government increased its focus on seizures as part of its 2021-2025 security plan, aiming to conduct 10,000 operations in 2023. The plan also focused on eradicating coca crops outside permitted growing areas and more inspections for companies that deal in precursor chemicals. Authorities eradicated 10,302 hectares of coca in 2023, a slight increase over last year’s figure of 10,260.
Venezuela
Venezuela seized 43.7 tons of cocaine in 2023, an increase of 34% compared to the seven-year low of 32.6 tons seized in 2022. However, Venezuelan government figures have been opaque and unreliable in the past.
The state of Zulia accounted for 62% of cocaine seizures in 2023, equivalent to more than all the cocaine seized in 2022. Zulia lies across the border from Colombia’s Catatumbo region, the largest coca cultivation center in Colombia.
Increasingly sophisticated laboratories are being found more frequently, especially in Zulia, as Colombian guerrilla groups seek to evade the operations of Colombian security forces.
Honduras
Honduras saw a dramatic 93% drop in cocaine seizures from 2022 to 2023. The country confiscated only 470 kilograms in 2023 compared to 7.1 tons the previous year, according to data from the National Police. While these figures suggest that the country is losing predominance as a transit point, the government’s efforts to eradicate coca crops indicate coca cultivation has taken root in the country. In 2023, Honduran authorities eradicated 4.7 million coca bushes, down from 2022’s record 6.5 million, but still massively higher than 2021’s half a million plants.
Guatemala
Guatemala seized 5 tons of cocaine in 2023, compared to 5.9 the previous year. This 14.6% decrease in cocaine seizures suggests a shift in routes from Central America to Caribbean nations, like Jamaica. Cultivation of coca crops seems to be an emerging trend in Guatemala, as authorities nearly doubled the amount of coca plants destroyed, reaching 7.9 million, compared to around 4 million in 2022.
While the eradication of millions of plants in Central American countries is striking, coca cultivation in Honduras and Guatemala remains incipient, and pales in comparison to the major growers in the Andes. Moreover, conversion of the coca leaf into cocaine is low or non-existent, suggesting that these nations are still far from matching the rate of alkaloid production in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.
Brazil remains the most important transit point on South America’s Atlantic coast, seizing more cocaine than Argentina, Guyana, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela combined. Cocaine seizures decreased in Paraguay and Uruguay, suggesting weak anti-trafficking controls. Multiple loads that passed seemingly undetected through those countries were later seized in reception points in Europe.
Panama and Costa Rica, traditional transit points in the cocaine pipeline to the United States, witnessed a decrease in cocaine seizures. However, exceptionally large seizures in Caribbean territories like Jamaica may suggest a shift in routes.
Ecuador
Ecuador seized nearly 200 tons of cocaine in 2023, second only to Colombia. Located between Peru and Colombia, two of the world’s main cocaine producers, Ecuador has become an important exit point from South America. The increase in production in neighboring countries, and the profits derived from this market, was associated with a notable increase in homicides in Ecuador. The murder rate went from 6 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016 to 44.5 per 100,000 in 2023.
As authorities seize more cocaine flowing through Ecuador, homicides have similarly increased
The city of Durán, in the southwest of the country, has become one of the main storage points for cocaine. Its proximity to the major port of Guayaquil makes it attractive to drug traffickers, who contaminate shipments traveling to and from port terminals along the Guayas River with drugs.
Panama
Panama confiscated 95.67 tons of cocaine in 2023. While this figure is 12% lower than in 2022, the Central American nation still seized more cocaine than any country besides Colombia and Ecuador. The drop in traffic through the Panama Canal due to a lack of rainfall is one of the factors causing the decrease in seizures. The operational capacity of the strait that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans went from 38 vessels daily under optimal conditions, to 32 in July, 31 in November, and 24 in January.
Nevertheless, Panama remains a primary hub for drug trafficking in Latin America, especially for shipments headed to Europe.
Brazil
Brazilian authorities seized a total of 72.3 tons of cocaine in 2023, according to Federal Police data obtained by InSight Crime. Though much lower than the 96.6 tons reported in 2022, last year’s data included crack cocaine and coca base.
Almost a quarter of the total – nearly 17 tons – were seized in São Paulo, the biggest state in the Americas and home to Brazil’s principal cocaine exit point, the port of Santos. The state is also the home territory of one of the world’s foremost cocaine trafficking groups, the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC).
Brazilian authorities made key busts throughout other parts of the country. In September 2023, Brazil’s navy apprehended 3.6 tons of cocaine off the coast of the Northeastern state of Pernambuco – the largest maritime seizure in Brazil’s history.
Brazil’s borders with Bolivia and Paraguay remain focal points for seizures. After São Paulo, the states with the most seizures were the border states Mato Grosso (14.3 tons), Paraná (8.3 tons), and Mato Grosso do Sul (7.7 tons).
Costa Rica
Costa Rican authorities seized 21.4 tons of cocaine in 2023. Although this figure is 13.4% lower than in 2022, drug trafficking consolidated its position as one of the main drivers of violence, accounting for the majority of homicides in 2023. In addition, crack consumption increased by 15.2% compared to 2022, according to figures presented by the National Statistical Information Unit on Drugs (Unidad de Información Estadística Nacional Sobre Drogas). This suggests that some of the cocaine passing through Costa Rica is destined for the local market.
Dominican Republic
Authorities in the Dominican Republic seized 17.98 tons of cocaine in 2023, compared to 27 in 2022, 19 in 2021, and 10 in 2020. Corruption in the ports, coupled with its strategic location between South American producer nations, the ever-lucrative United States, and the increasingly popular European markets, made the country the Caribbean’s cocaine hub in 2022.
However, increased interdiction efforts supported by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2022 likely caused traffickers to change routes.
Jamaica
InSight Crime was unable to obtain open data on cocaine seizures in Jamaica, and the government did not respond to requests for official statistics. However, the country saw significant changes in cocaine trafficking in 2023. The island began the year with a seizure of more than 1.5 tons of cocaine hidden in the container of a ship in the port of Kingston. The seizure, which was one of the largest in the country’s history, set off alarm bells, as it was the third seizure of more than over 500 kilograms in just a four-month period.
“These are not ordinary [seizures]. They are exceptionally large,” Anthony Clayton, a security expert and professor at Jamaica’s University of the West Indies, told InSight Crime.
Increases in coca cultivation, the resulting growth of cocaine from Colombia, and the decrease in cocaine flow through Central America are some of the factors causing the rise of Jamaica’s potential as a cocaine transit point.
