Can A New President’s Hard-Line Approach Stop the Spread of Coca in Colombia?

The United Nations has finally published its data on coca cultivation in Colombia in 2024, as drug crop plantations expanded, yet concentrated in certain territories, offering the incoming president opportunities as he vows to restart eradication on an industrial scale. 

The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) and the Colombian government registered 261,000 hectares of coca in 2024, representing a 3.5% increase compared to 2023. The report was published 18 months later than expected due to arguments over methodology with current Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The president had challenged findings that suggested cocaine production had increased as much as 53% between 2023 and 2024. 

The fact that the majority of coca cultivation is concentrated in just 10 municipalities provides president-elect Abelardo De la Espriella, who takes office in August, with clear targets for his aerial eradication campaign, which was one of his main campaign pledges. He has the chance to remove almost half of the sourcing for Colombia’s cocaine production in short order. But while this sounds simple, it is not.

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