In recent years, the world’s cocaine supply has surged to alarming levels. This rise threatens the stability of producer regions in South America and contributes to demand crises in the USA and Europe. The Trump administration’s drone strikes targeting boats believed to carry illegal drugs highlight the urgency of this complex issue. At the center of the increase in cocaine production is a dangerous partnership between two illegal economies: coca cultivation and illicit gold mining.
The Surge in Cocaine Production and Cultivation
Global cocaine production reached a record 3,708 metric tons in 2023, a 34% increase from the previous year, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Colombia remains the main hub, responsible for over two-thirds of the world’s coca leaf crops, with cultivation expanding by about 53% to cover 253,000 hectares. This sharp rise is pushing cocaine output to levels ten times larger than a decade ago.
While Colombia has traditionally been the leader in cocaine production, Peru has emerged as a significant second producer, accounting for over 800 tons of cocaine in 2024. Additionally, coca cultivation in Peru has spread beyond isolated mountain areas into the vast Amazonian lowlands that border Brazil and Colombia. These fertile regions allow more resilient coca variants to thrive. The Ucayali region of Peru exemplifies this growth, with an increase in clandestine airstrips and advanced trafficking routes deep in the jungle.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated these trends. Police-enforced lockdowns inadvertently allowed organized crime to gain unchecked control over vast, remote areas, enabling rapid expansion of coca fields and illegal gold mining. Furthermore, with more than 70% of Peruvians working in the informal sector, economic hardship during the pandemic forced many into illegal activities for survival.
Narco-MinerĂa: The Toxic Nexus of Coca Growth and Gold Mining
A crucial factor amplifying the impact of cocaine production is the rise of “narco-minerĂa,” which combines drug trafficking and illegal gold mining. This relationship enriches criminal gangs and corrupt officials, allowing them to exploit rising global gold prices to launder drug money and diversify their income.
Gold has a unique advantage: while cocaine is illegal and risky to handle at every stage, illegally extracted gold, once refined, looks just like legitimate metal, hiding its criminal origins. Criminal organizations thus channel cocaine profits into gold mining, making the gold trade a safer and more profitable venture. These gangs use the same logistics, smuggling routes, fuel supplies, and territorial control to exploit multiple resources, including coca, gold, and timber.
Major criminal organizations have established a strong presence in the Amazon border regions. Dissident factions of Colombia’s FARC control parts of Peru’s northern frontier, while Brazil’s infamous Comando Vermelho has expanded into Peru’s tri-border area with Colombia and Brazil since 2021, taking control of coca plantations and gold mining operations, especially in Ucayali and Madre de Dios. Another violent gang in Peru, the Guardianes de la Trocha, runs “protection” rackets over illegal mines and has been linked to numerous murders, with mass graves believed to hold over 100 victims.
Further east, in the Amazon basin, illegal mining and cocaine trafficking are closely connected with Venezuelan criminal elites and Colombian guerrilla groups. Venezuela reportedly hosts over 30% of illegal mining sites in the Amazon, with military personnel sometimes taking personal control over these mines. Profits from trafficking often fund mining operations, supporting complex criminal networks that extend into neighboring Guyana.
Ecuador also struggles with illegal gold mining near its border with Peru, showing that the narco-minerĂa model is spreading beyond Peru. This growing nexus threatens local governance, security, and the ecological integrity of the entire Amazon basin.
Environmental and Social Devastation
The environmental damage from illegal coca cultivation and gold mining is devastating. The Peruvian Amazon has faced significant deforestation as eradication efforts push coca cultivation further into remote forested areas. Poisoned rivers, heavy deforestation, and collapsing wildlife habitats have become tragically common. Chemicals from mining and coca processing ruin aquatic ecosystems and soil fertility, while communities that have lived in harmony with the forest for generations find their land seized and degraded.
Investigative reports show that eradication policies alone often do not work; they can even be counterproductive, displacing cultivation instead of eliminating it. The region’s unstable politics, characterized by frequent changes in interior ministers and ongoing corruption, undermine effective law enforcement. In some cases, legal gold mining permits are granted through corrupt deals, further muddying the lines between legal and illegal economies.
The social fabric also deteriorates under this pressure. Powerful drug and mining gangs use extreme violence to dominate their territories, employing death squads, forced displacement, and intimidation. Many local residents find themselves trapped in cycles of dependency on the illegal economy, with few options for sustainable livelihoods.
Political Instability and Corruption
Peru's political situation exacerbates the crisis. With more than a dozen interior ministers in just five years, governance is inconsistent and weak. Strong lobbies within Peru’s Congress often support or tolerate illegal mining interests. This political stagnation allows criminal networks to influence elections and public officials, creating a cycle of impunity.
Former Peruvian Interior Minister Ruben Vargas pointed out the increasing power of groups like Comando Vermelho, which now controls coca cultivation and mining routes, fueling what he calls Peru’s worst crime wave ever. Meanwhile, enforcement against drug trafficking in major consumption regions like Europe and Brazil has decreased.
On a broader level, the U.S. under the Trump administration has stepped up drone strikes against suspected drug shipments from South America, especially targeting vessels in the Pacific. These efforts aim to disrupt the supply chain but face the challenge of an ever-adapting illegal economy that now spans mining and various drug routes.
Implications for the USA and Europe
This interconnected cocaine-gold economy poses a serious challenge not only to South America but also to the USA and Europe, the main consumers of cocaine from this network. Drug shipments from Colombia and Peru feed vast markets, with cocaine primarily heading to North America and Europe through both maritime and air routes.
The shift of criminal investments into gold mining makes it harder to track and disrupt drug profits. Gold’s fungibility allows for global laundering and reinvestment well beyond the reach of traditional anti-drug efforts. The expansion of these illegal operations also incites regional violence, migration pressures, and destabilizes governments, causing environmental damage with global consequences.
As consumers and policy makers, Europeans and Americans face the difficult task of addressing demand while supporting sustainable solutions in producer countries. This involves promoting regional cooperation, backing alternative livelihoods, increasing financial transparency, and pushing for governance reforms to dismantle corrupt networks.
Concluding Thoughts: A Call for Comprehensive Solutions
The cocaine and illicit gold connection highlights significant underlying issues: how poverty, environmental destruction, weak governance, and global demand come together to sustain a vast criminal ecosystem. Addressing one area without the others risks continuing the cycle. Experts advocate for a multifaceted approach that includes environmental restoration, community empowerment, focused law enforcement, and reducing demand in consuming regions.
The Trump administration’s anti-drug drone strikes demonstrate the urgent need for action but also reveal the limitations of military tactics alone. Sustainable progress requires a comprehensive approach that connects the dense Amazon jungle to urban centers in the USA and Europe.
Understanding the narco-minerĂa dynamic—and its impact on ecosystems, communities, and international security—is crucial for developing more effective policies. While it represents a significant challenge—a dangerous interplay of cocaine and gold—it also offers an opportunity for the global community to rethink and strengthen its commitment to resolving this complex crisis.
