Colombia is the largest producer of coca and cocaine in the world. This is reflected in hundreds of videos published on TikTok, in which young Colombians show their work in coca plantations and clandestine laboratories, where the leaves are processed to produce cocaine. One of these young people, contacted by our newsroom, says that many peasants live from coca, but that the drug traffickers are the ones who control the industry.
Although it is illegal to grow coca and produce cocaine in Colombia, many young people post videos on TikTok to showcase their work in this sector.
>> Read the first part of this report here: On TikTok, cocaine production in Colombia (1/2): from coca harvest to processing
Montage of three videos showing coca plantations, in the department of Cauca. In the first you can hear the following: “This bush is very beautiful, in a month, a month and a half, we have to take it.” The other two videos show workers collecting coca leaves. ©TikTok.
“We have the obligation to sell the ‘coca base’ to drug trafficking groups”
Juan (pseudonym) is one of these young people active on TikTok. In the first part of our article, he said he worked in the coca business mainly for economic reasons, in the department of Putumayo, on the border with Ecuador. He has his own land, where he grows the leaf and also works on other land, where coca is grown and then transformed into “coca base” in a clandestine laboratory, in order to produce cocaine. He explains how the sale of the products is organized afterwards:
Regarding the coca leaves that I harvest on my land, I sell them to a person who does not belong to any armed group. Normally I have to notify the drug trafficking groups present in Putumayo, so that they can buy them from that person later.
Regarding the “coca base”, we have the obligation to sell it directly to these groups. If we don’t, they can kick us off our land or give us a very high fine. And if we can’t pay it, we have to sell the land or leave the country. Otherwise, they can kill us.
Video recorded in Colombia, showing the “coca base” in a clandestine laboratory, a stage prior to cocaine. ©TikTok.
However, despite the fact that we are required to sell all of our products to these groups, we never deliver 100%, just in case. For example, when they fight for control of the territory – which is frequent – they buy our products late, many times, then we run out of money. So sometimes we sell a part of our products to groups that come from Ecuador. In fact, they pay more than Colombian groups. Now the price of a kilogram of “coca base” is 2,650,000 pesos (600 euros).
According to Colombian NGO Indepaz and Alexander Sanchez, social leader in Putumayo and spokesperson for the National Coordinator of Coca, Poppy and Marijuana Growers (COCCAM), at least three armed groups are in Putumayo: the “Frente Carolina Ramírez”, the “Comandos Bolivarianos de la Frontera” (dissidents of the former FARC guerrilla, which signed a peace agreement with the government in in 2016), and “La Constru” (paramilitaries).
“I post videos on TikTok to show people how coca is grown”
John continues:
I post videos on TikTok to show people how coca is grown, so they can ask questions. Sometimes people from other countries tell me that they wanted to buy land with coca crops. Others ask me the price of an arroba of leaves, how much do we pay the workers who harvest the coca, how much do I earn… Some even tell me: “Give me a job.”
However, there are also people who tell me that it is bad, that it should not pollute, because when we work in the laboratory, we throw away polluting liquids and coca leaves that are no longer useful. In fact, the armed groups prohibit laboratories less than 50 meters from rivers, to avoid contaminating the water that can be consumed by people.
Video posted by Juan, recorded in Putumayo, showing chemicals and material next to a river. The song that accompanies the video says: “Many people criticize my life because I earn dirty money, because I traffic drugs, and I send them to the United States […].” ©TikTok.
I know that my videos could get me in trouble with the Police or the Army, but I haven’t had any problems so far.
“If the Army or the Police destroy the crops, it is possible to plant again later”
In fact, a couple of months ago, they came here to eradicate coca crops. When they come, they arrive by helicopter, so you can hear them coming. When that happens, we stop everything. Later, they measure the land where we work and explain that they are going to uproot part of the crops: normally, it is only 20% if you have one hectare. But if we tell them that we are going to “collaborate” with them, it may only be 10%. There are even people who give them money so they don’t start anything. In any case, if they destroy part of the crops, it is possible to plant again later.
Regarding the laboratories, they can destroy them, but they can’t burn them anymore for environmental reasons.
Montage of two videos recorded in Putumayo, showing the arrival of helicopters. In the second, shots are heard. ©TikTok.
Police and military also active on TikTok
On TikTok, there are also videos posted by police and military, showing their work to eradicate coca crops. According to the defense minister, 103,100 hectares of coca were eradicated and more than 5,700 laboratories were destroyed in 2021. Since right-wing President Iván Duque came to power in 2018, the country has intensified coca eradication.
Montage of two videos. In the first, several soldiers start coca. According to the soldier who published it, it was recorded in the department of Caquetá. In the second, posted by a police officer, you can read: “My mom: I hope they don’t send you away to work,” and then “Eradicating in Putumayo.” ©TikTok.
“It is possible that the police or the military uproot only part of the coca crops in exchange for money”
According to Alexander Sánchez, from COCCAM, “it is not legal” for the Army and the Police, sometimes, to uproot only part of the coca crops, as Juan told it:
In theory, they have to eradicate all the crops they find. But it is possible that they will take only part of it if they reach an “agreement” with the peasants, for example, if they give them money: it is robbery. However, it allows to prevent all the peasants’ crops from being destroyed, while it is their livelihood. And when they do not reach an agreement, sometimes there are confrontations.
Contacted by our newsroom, the Police and the Army did not respond to our questions on this matter. We will post your responses if we receive them.
Video recorded from a helicopter, which flies over coca crops starting at 0’16. ©TikTok.
Alexander Sanchez continues:
Regarding the videos that young people post on TikTok, I don’t think they can cause them problems because the authorities already know that there are coca crops and laboratories in those areas. Twenty minutes south of Puerto Asís (a city in Putumayo), there are already crops next to the rivers. Furthermore, they think that if The police or the military uproot their crops, they can plant again and that’s it.
I think they post these videos because they are proud of their work, they want to promote it: it is what allows them to earn a living.
Video recorded in Putumayo, in which a young man says that he harvests coca leaves to earn money for his girlfriend. ©TikTok.
Difficult implementation of the illicit crop substitution program
In 2016, the peace agreement signed between the government and the former FARC guerrilla group provided for the creation of a new program for the substitution of crops for illicit use, among others. The objective: to encourage the peasants to abandon coca to work on other crops thanks to the financial support of the State. At that time, the government undertook, among other things, to offer them a million pesos a month (which corresponds approximately to the current minimum wage), for one year, to invest in new legal crops.
However, Juan thinks that it is “more profitable to continue working in coca”, so he wants to “buy another larger piece of land, to earn more, and have more economic stability” in the long term.
In addition, many farmers have not received the financial support promised by the government. “The promises have been unfulfilled, so many peasants, who wanted to give up coca, returned to planting, to get ahead,” laments Alexander Sánchez. In addition to that, the program has to be developed “in the midst of threats from the armed groups, which see the development of these programs as a risk to their aspirations,” he indicates. helpless.
Video recorded in Cauca: shows women harvesting coca. ©TikTok.
This article was adapted from its original in French.
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