Pablo Escobar Cocaine

Columbia is historically the most impacted nation of narco-terrorism. Columbia was first declared an independent nation after the fall of Gran Columbia along with Ecuador and Venezuela in 1830. As of July 2011, CIA World Factbook has estimated its population to be about 44,725,543. Columbia has 1,138,910 sq km of land, approximately three times the size of California. However, according to the CIA World Factbook it is estimated that only 2.1% of the land is arable, 1.37% is already used for permanent crops, and the rest of its 96% is used for “other” reasons. According to the 2008 World Drug Report, over 99,000 ha of Columbian land is used for cocaine cultivation. Due to its ongoing civil wars and weak democratic government, Columbia has become a haven for narco-terrorism. Insurgent groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), National Liberation Army (ELN), and United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) have been known rely on drug trafficking to carry out bombings, extortion, kidnapping, and assassination.

Columbia currently supplies the United States with eighty percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States. The cultivation of coca in 1997 was equal to79, 500 hectares. All that coca could potentially produce 125 metric tons of cocaine.

Cocaine originated from South America, from coca leaves. Originally, the coca leaves were chewed by workers to decrease fatigue, improve endurance and have a greater resistance to the cold. This was to benefit the workers so they could work longer hours and be more productive. In 1855 the active ingredient in cocaine was isolated from the leaves, and in 1880 it was used as a local anesthetic (Nunes,2006). It was also used in coca cola. In 1855, coca cola was a soda beverage that contained sixty milligrams of cocaine for every eight ounces of the beverage. The idea behind this was to give people energy and a sense of well being (Nunes, 2006). By the late 1880s Sigmund Freud was using cocaine regularly and was even recommending it to others.

Issues such as manufacturing and delivering of materials were delayed. As a consequence, the plan could not be executed right away. However, even with the aid that Colombia has provided, data proves that numbers have not decreased for drug activity. Since December of 2001 combatants have sprayed herbicide over 75,000 of the 340,000 acres of drug crops reported to exists in Colombia. The plan was to cut that acreage in half by 2002. However, evidence from reports conducted by the United Nations have emerged, proving that there is far more than 340,000 acres of drug crops in Colombia. Which puts into question this plan. Another statistic that is proven misreported is the total amount of cocaine produced in Colombia. The U.S. stated their estimates to be around 580 tons annually. However, recent studies show that cocaine production out of Colombian ranges from 800 to 900 tons annually. This miscalculation is supported by the fact that according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the street prices of cocaine have not been reduced since the commencement of Plan Colombia. If crop eradication in Colombia had been successful, the supply of cocaine would have decreased, thus forcing the law of supply and demand to raise the price of cocaine in the black

Around the time of 1978, a business was developing that would soon be wealthy enough to profit up to 60 million a month (Kelley). Despite its wealth, the Medellin Cartel was not exactly a legal enterprise. It devoted infinite amounts of time, money, and manpower to produce, sell, and distribute drugs throughout vast areas. At the head was Pablo Escobar, who was admired by many inside and outside of the cartel. Countless people were involved in his business, both voluntarily and involuntarily (Kelley). While countless people looked up to him as a hero, Pablo Escobar took vicious measures while running his business, due to his thirst for power and wealth; however, he did not receive a satisfying punishment for the crimes he committed.

Alongside the need or want for drugs, a market is available to move, buy, and sell drugs usually run by small groups of individuals. There have been certain key players in regards to nations that have provided an environment for this market of cultivation and production of substances and trafficking. Often it is due to a lack of a strong government and a weak economy, pushing otherwise hard working, honest people to make a living by other means. Despite Colombia’s relatively strong economy and stable government, the following introduction of coca from Peru and Bolivia took hold. Colombia became one nation that largely contributed to cocaine and heroin trafficking. A country that initially produced and exported small amounts of cocaine in the early 1970’s now has a major role throughout the world.5

According to the U.S. Department of State, coca growth and cocaine production in Peru started in the 19th century, when profits were high from exporting to the United States. In 1948, Peru outlawed cocaine and the production of it, prompting illegal growth in the largely uninhabited Hullaga Valley. The Hullaga Valley consists of incredibly rugged terrain, making it difficult for the government to control the growth of coca, ultimately leading to an increase in cocaine production in Peru. A large proportion of this cocaine was shipped southward out of Peru, through Chile, until roughly 1970 when an increased military presence near shipment routes caused a reroute through Colombia. By 1980, Peru was considered to be the world’s

Pablo Escobar was now leading the cocaine business in Colombia. The cocaine that was sold on the streets of the United States was a white powder called cocaine hydrochloride. At first the coca leaves were not grown in Colombia. Most of the coca leaves and paste were imported from neighboring countries like Bolivia and Peru. Escobar knew this was not the most efficient way to make money. He began to hand out the coca seeds to the peasants and encouraged them to grow the important crop (Drug).

Thank you, Ian, for this wonderful article. You are certainly right about how smart Pablo Escobar was. He chose to smuggle cocaine into The United States instead of selling it in his home country so he can make 10 times the profit. He used many different routes to smuggle drugs into the United States. He even bought a small plane and used it to traffic drugs to Panama himself. The first plan he ever bought was put on top of the entrance to his famous ranch of Napoles. He later hired an American CIA agent name Barry Seal, who later became an informant and was killed by Pablo's hitmen. He also had submarines built and used various cartels in Mexico to smuggle his product to the United States. I think the smartest thing about him was that he never

This combined effort, evolved an entire new drug market. The drug market became more organized and with the new success, conflict began to surface. Bolivia joined the ranks of nations that produces cocaine after Peru was taken out of power (2). Cuba was viewed as the capital of producing cocaine. Havana was the meeting point of American and Latin drug lords. Traffickers set up distribution centers all over the United States and Mexico. Miami was viewed as one of the most important entry points of entering the United States.

The idea of drug trafficking makes most gasp in disgust but for the country of Columbia, drug trafficking was their upbringing and yet, eventually it was their demise. Pablo Escobar brought hope to poor and fear to the wealthy and even though his ways were cruel, his deeds were kind. Not only did Pablo Escobar bring the country of Columbia under his rule but he influenced this country's culture in a beautiful but horrible way.

When people think of cocaine the first country that most people will think of is Columbia. A Picture of Columbia has been painted into the minds of Americans because of popular culture. Shows such as Narcos which is extremely popular portray Columbia as a lawless jungle where Pablo Escobar was able to build a drug empire around cocaine. He made his money by smuggling cocaine into many different countries with the U.S being one of the largest. What many people don’t know is that the Columbian government is actively trying to put a stop to this drug trade. Cocaine is a drug that can be found in every corner of the world so how can something that is so widespread be stopped? In order to answer this question, you need to first look at every aspect

The drug dealers have captured a great deal of power in Colombia, and have adopted the position of the government in many instances. The drug trade has ruined the image of Colombia, and has caused the world to forget about the other goods produced in Colombia, like coffee, flowers, oil and gas for instance. As the website put out by the Colombian Government Trade Bureau entitled “Colombia Trade News” states,

Violence in modern Colombia takes place in many forms. The three major categories are crime, guerrilla activities, and attacks committed by drug traffickers. Violence has become so widespread and common in Colombia that many people have now become numb to it. The Colombian economy has also benefited from the illicit drug trade; however violent it may be. During the 1970s, Colombia became well known, as one of the world’s most important drug processing, production, and distribution centers for marijuana and cocaine.

The King of Cocaine, Pablo Escobar, was a Colombian drug lord who created the Medellin Cartel and was once one of Forbes’ Magazines wealthiest people (Levinthal, 2012). Pablo Escobar was born in 1949 in Colombia to a father was a peasant farmer and mother who was a school teacher (Thompson, 1996). His aspirations for a large life began when he was young and he dreamed of becoming the president of Columbia. However things changed when he realized that being legitimately wealthy would require him to be a criminal. Prior to being involved in drugs and smuggling, Pablo was a petty street thief and would steal cars (Jenish, & Wirpsa, 1993). As his criminal activity grew he would gain a name for himself on the streets that would ultimately prepare