HomeNewsBriefBolivia Traffickers Supplying Drug Markets in Africa, Lebanon?
BRIEF

Bolivia Traffickers Supplying Drug Markets in Africa, Lebanon?

BOLIVIA / 9 MAR 2015 BY MICHAEL LOHMULLER EN

Soaring cocaine prices in Africa and Lebanon are allegedly attracting drug trafficking organizations based in Bolivia, reflecting a diversification of drug markets but also raising questions over the actual level of involvement of Bolivians in transnational organized crime.

Two recent drug seizures in the city of Santa Cruz have led authorities to believe that Bolivian drug traffickers are moving to supply demand in Lebanon and Africa, reported La Razon.

On March 2, authorities from Bolivia’s Special Counter-Narcotics Police Force (FELCN) confiscated 27.2 tons of coca leaves that had been disguised as packages of yerba mate tea. The packages were set to be exported to Lebanon, with La Red 21 reporting the operation would have earned drug traffickers over $90 million.

Two days later, on March 4, FELCN agents seized 1.2 tons of cocaine chlorohydrate hidden in around 840 bags of organic fertilizer that were destined for exportation to Burkina Faso. According to La Razon, the drugs would have been worth $70 million in the African drug market.

Marcelo Flores, director of the FELCN, said the elevated prices in these countries have made them attractive markets for Bolivian organized crime groups. Hugo Moldiz, Bolivia’s Minister of Government, said a kilo of cystalized cocaine (chlorohydrate) fetches between $70,000 to $85,000 in coastal Africa or Lebanon, prices that are nearly 1,400 percent greater than the $5,000 to $14,000 per kilo in South America.

According to Felipe Caceres, Bolivia's Vice Minister for Social Defense and Controlled Substances, this was the country's first seizure of ground coca leaves destined to be trafficked to another continent.  The coca would have to have been processed into coca base and then cocaine. In both seizures, Caceres said, the merchandise was to travel overland to a Chilean port, from where it would be shipped via boat to its final destination.

In July 2014, police in the department of Oruro intercepted a shipment of 123 kilos of cocaine hidden in wood boards destined for Lebanon, reported La Razon.

InSight Crime Analysis

As InSight Crime has previously reported, Bolivia has taken on an increasingly important role in the South American drug trade given widespread corruption, weak law enforcement, and its geographical proximity to centers of both drug production and consumption.

SEE ALSO: Evo’s Challenge: Bolivia the Drug Hub

Yet the lack of information on what suspected criminal groups were behind these drug shipments leaves unanswered the question of whether or not Bolivian criminal groups are becoming more sophisticated players in the transnational drug trade.

Traditionally, Bolivian drug traffickers have been a major regional supplier of coca base (sometimes also known as "cocaine paste") for neighboring Brazil (the second largest consumer of illicit drugs in the world), as well as for the growing Argentinian market, for “basuco” or “paco,” a form of crack cocaine. In contrast, Colombian groups have generally been more involved with producing and shipping cystalized cocaine to international markets like the US and Europe.  

Nonetheless, if the assertions by the Bolivian authorities are true, it indicates that Bolivian groups are seeking to move beyond Latin America to become players in the transnational drug trade, in order to take advantage of high price markups in Africa and Lebanon.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BOLIVIA / 2 SEP 2022

Peru coca prices are low. And that's leading to potential cocaine production in Bolivia.

BOLIVIA / 21 FEB 2023

Passenger buses are the latest means of smuggling contraband goods in Bolivia, where the impact of COVID-19 has seen smuggling…

BOLIVIA / 22 JUL 2021

A recent clash between soldiers and smugglers has pointed to how Bolivia’s trade in contraband has reached a flashpoint.

About InSight Crime

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…