Cocaine smuggling and production at record high since pandemic retreat

New UN report says there has been a 35% spike in 2020-21 in the production of coca, the drug’s base ingredient

South American drug cartels have capitalised on the retreat of the Covid-19 pandemic to produce and smuggle record amounts of cocaine around the world.

Production of coca, the drug’s base ingredient, spiked 35% in 2020-21, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).