{"id":354,"date":"2014-03-27T12:15:26","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T12:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/?p=354"},"modified":"2020-05-27T12:18:22","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T11:18:22","slug":"can-you-get-rich-from-the-bolivian-cocaine-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/can-you-get-rich-from-the-bolivian-cocaine-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you get rich from the Bolivian cocaine trade?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can you get rich from the Bolivian Cocaine Trade? Cocaine Paste Production in the Chapare<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thomas Grisaffi\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally published on\u00a0the Andean Information Network \u00a0<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In October 2013, Mary Anastasia O\u2019Grady wrote in the Wall Street Journal that Bolivia under President Evo Morales is turning into a rogue-state, awash with drug money.[ii]<\/a>\u00a0 The Bolivian press has argued that cocaine production sites are growing \u2018like mushrooms\u2019[iii]<\/a>and that coca farmers are a class of \u201cnouveau riche\u201d <\/em>peasants who spend their ill-gotten drug money on luxury cars, parties, and lavish houses.[iv]<\/a> And it\u2019s not just the press — ex-President Jorge Quiroga recently accused the Chapare coca growers\u2019 federations, and by extension the Morales government, of protecting illicit cocaine production.[v]<\/a><\/p>\n

Bolivia, the world\u2019s third largest producer of coca leaf after Peru and Colombia, is caught at the lowest rungs of the international drug trade, producing significant quantities of low-value cocaine paste – the first step towards refining pure cocaine.[vi]<\/a>\u00a0 While cocaine paste production takes place throughout the country, the Chapare – one of Bolivia\u2019s two main coca-growing regions \u2013 is often presented in the mainstream media as the primary hub for drug production and trafficking.<\/p>\n

Three key arguments about of how drug production and trafficking function easily dispel this widespread misinformation. First, the majority of Chapare coca farmers are not directly involved in drug trafficking. Second, profits from most low-level drug trafficking are limited. And finally, the Chapare coca unions are not complicit with illegal activity; rather, they have proven to be active partners in the fight against drug production and trafficking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cocaine paste production<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Chapare, cocaine paste production is referred to as pichicata;<\/em> the people who make cocaine paste are known as pichicateros<\/em>. The pichicateros<\/em> set up their artisanal laboratories \u2013 henceforth referred to as \u201cproduction sites\u201d \u2013 by creating a makeshift vat with a heavy nylon tarp (the size of a small wading pool). They fill the vat with coca leaves, which are then soaked in chemicals including sulfuric acid, ammonia, caustic soda and gasoline. Young men, who are known as pisa-cocas<\/em>, stomp on the coca mulch for several hours to mix up the solution. The \u2018agua dulce<\/em>\u2019 or \u2018rich water\u2019 is drained off and processed, which produces a beige paste called pasta base <\/em>or cocaine paste.<\/p>\n

Over the past ten years, the \u201ccoca stomping\u201d maceration pit method has largely been replaced by a mechanized technique first developed in Colombia. The new approach, known as the \u201cColombian method,\u201d includes the use of leaf shredders (weed whackers), large plastic water tanks, cement mixers, and a new combination of chemicals. The mechanized approach speeds up the maceration process, reduces the amount of coca to process one kilo of paste, and requires less workers \u2013 most production sites now employ three people instead of five. A production site using the Colombian method and working at full capacity can process up to of 3 kilos of cocaine paste per day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From paste to cocaine<\/strong><\/p>\n

The owner of a production site generally sells the finished product to a local buyer, called a rescatista<\/em>. The rescatistas<\/em> buy up cocaine paste from several sites.\u00a0 Once they have amassed several kilos, they arrange for it to be transported out of the Chapare, generally by teenagers or members of the large itinerant population who are always on the lookout for work. Whether by foot, road or river, the transporters have innovative strategies to hide the drug so that they can pass through or avoid the police checkpoints. \u00a0Cocaine paste is concealed in car door panels, under truckloads of oranges, packed into powdered milk tins, or taped to people\u2019s stomachs. Some carry the paste by foot to the city of Cochabamba, a five-day trek with the risk of robbery. Cocaine paste also makes its way north along rivers into the department of Beni.<\/p>\n

The cocaine paste still needs to be refined into pure crystalized cocaine (cocaine hydrochloride), but this is a complex process, requiring more skill, equipment, and expensive, difficult to obtain chemicals. Much of Bolivia\u2019s cocaine paste is refined outside of the country, although laboratories have been discovered in Bolivia\u2019s eastern lowlands and in some urban areas. Police raids have revealed that some of these laboratories have a workforce of up to thirty people \u2013very different operations than the rudimentary Chapare cocaine paste production units.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Production costs and other profit constraints<\/strong><\/p>\n

To process one kilo of cocaine paste, the pichicateros<\/em> require 100 liters (about 26 gallons) of gasoline.[vii]<\/a> However, the Morales administration has put tight controls on the movement of precursor chemicals, especially gasoline. \u00a0Chapare gas stations only allow people to buy one tank per day, and they add pink dye to it, which makes it less attractive for cocaine paste production.[viii]<\/a>Consequently, some taxi drivers \u2013 known as cister\u00f1eros \u2013 <\/em>smuggle fuel from the cities, doubling the sale price in the Chapare.[ix]<\/a> Other precursors, including chalk and caustic soda, also come at a premium because of tight government controls.\u00a0 When the pichicateros<\/em>cannot get hold of the correct chemicals, they improvise \u2013 for example, using cement instead of chalk to process paste.<\/p>\n

Coca leaf represents the most costly element in the production chain. Over the past five years, the price of coca has doubled to 28 Bolivianos per pound ($4), in part as a result of government controls restricting the production and commercialization of coca leaf.\u00a0 On average, it takes 300 pounds of coca to process one kilogram of cocaine paste, which means that at current prices the pichicateros<\/em>spend over $1200 on coca leaf alone.[x]<\/a> It costs approximately $1500 to produce one kilo of cocaine paste \u2013 this includes overheads for the initial equipment,[xi]<\/a> \u00a0coca leaf, precursor chemicals, labor and transport.\u00a0 In the Chapare, one kilo sells for between $1650 to $1700 dollars, meaning that net profits for cocaine paste producers can be as low as $150 per kilo.<\/p>\n

It is also important to note that production is not constant. Pichicateros<\/em> tend to spend far more time idle than working.\u00a0 This is because it is difficult to obtain the necessary chemicals, which slows or even stalls production. In addition, the pichicateros<\/em> often lack sufficient capital to cover the costs of the inputs until they have sold their previous batch of paste.\u00a0 And finally, the pichicateros<\/em> take frequent breaks from processing in order to avoid drawing attention to their illicit activities and risking arrest; as one man put it, \u201cWe often have to let things cool down.\u201d \u00a0Along with irregular production, there is also a high margin of waste \u2013 if they mulch coca carelessly, the leaves turn black, and the entire batch has to be thrown away. As a result of these combined factors, most production sites make less than ten kilos of cocaine paste per month.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Labor <\/strong><\/p>\n

Just like any other industry, illegal cocaine paste production is stratified, with owners of the means of production and others who sell their labor.\u00a0 The three key roles in cocaine paste production include the \u2018peon\u2019 (or day laborer), the chemist, and the owner of the production site.<\/p>\n

The Laborers or \u201cPeons\u201d:<\/em> Peons represent the majority of the workers in the pichicata<\/em> industry. They undertake manual tasks such as carrying the heavy bags of coca and precursor chemicals to the production site, stomping the coca, shredding coca leaves, and acting as lookouts.\u00a0 The majority are either recent migrants to the region (who have come looking for work as either builders or farm hands) or local teenagers who want to earn extra spending money. The owners of the production site are very careful only to hire people who are \u2018de confianza\u2019<\/em> \u2013 people who are well known and can be trusted.<\/p>\n

Most laborers earn about $30 a day[xii]<\/a> (agricultural labor pays less than half that) for work that is tiring, irregular, and harmful to their health.\u00a0 It is also very risky: if caught, they face 8 years in prison. A 14 year-old pisa-coca<\/em> (coca stomper) described wading around in a toxic mulch of coca, gasoline, and acid for several hours a day. The fumes gave him a terrible headache, and his flimsy rubber boots let in acid that turned his toe nails green.\u00a0 Laborers who work processing drugs on average earn $300 per month.<\/p>\n

The \u201cChemists\u201d or \u2018Skilled Labor\u2019:<\/em> The next rung on the ladder is the qu\u00edmico<\/em> or chemist. They are mid-level technicians familiar with the basics of processing cocaine paste, i.e. the quantities of chemicals that are needed and when they should be added. The chemist earns 200 Bolivianos (around $30) for every kilo of cocaine paste produced, which means that on a good day, they can earn up to $90 \u2013 but that would be exceptional \u2013 average earnings are more like $60. The qu\u00edmico<\/em> can complement this wage by skimming off any extra production and selling it privately.<\/p>\n

The Owners:<\/em> At the top of the local production ladder are the owners of these rudimental production sites. The owners are few in number; they might be richer peasants or non-resident immigrants from elsewhere in Bolivia. If caught the owner faces 15 years in prison, consequently on the whole they do not work directly in cocaine paste production.[xiii]<\/a>\u00a0 The owner makes the most money from the operation \u2013 a generous estimate would be $2000 dollars a month, less than an assistant manager at McDonalds[xiv]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pichicata<\/em> and the local economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The laborers, chemists, and even the owners do not get rich from pichicata<\/em> \u2013 all it allows them to do is to save up to buy their own plot of farm land, small business, car, or even a house.\u00a0 These are modest ambitions \u2013 enough to buy a beat up Toyota station-wagon, not a Mercedes Benz or Land Rover.[xv]<\/a> \u00a0Their rural houses are often made from rough cut planks and do not have running water, sanitation or electricity. Many claim that once they have amassed the requisite capital to invest in a productive activity then they will abandon their illegal activities. Older farmers confirmed that they had done just that; after acquiring their own plot of land where no credit was available, they had decided the risks far outweighed the benefits and had subsequently dedicated themselves to farming instead. One man said, \u201cwhen you work in pichicata,<\/em> you spend the whole time looking over your shoulder, you can never relax. It\u2019s just too stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past five years the proliferation of cars, motorbikes, fiestas<\/em>, and home improvements shows that the Chapare\u2019s economy has started to grow. However, contrary to journalistic hyperbole, this economic dynamism cannot simply be attributed to a presumed rise in drug production and trafficking. \u00a0The Chapare looks so much richer today, because people are now prepared to invest their money in the region. During the period of forced coca eradication[xvi]<\/a> anyone who had any money (and sense) invested his or her capital elsewhere (normally in Cochabamba city\u2019s slums or peripheral communities). Other factors have contributed to the region\u2019s new economic dynamism, including improved access to cheap government loans, the legalization of coca cultivation, the influx of return migrants (mostly from Spain) and the expansion of informal activities such as commerce and transport. \u00a0Finally, the government has front-loaded development assistance to the region and farmers are taking advantage of these opportunities, including crop substitution and fish farming projects.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Federation is committed to tackle drug trafficking <\/strong><\/p>\n

Previous governments treated the coca growers\u2019 agricultural federations as criminal organizations; in contrast, the Morales administration has conscripted them as partners in the fight against drug trafficking.[xvii]<\/a> The Chapare\u2019s 45,000 coca growers are organized into sindicatos<\/em> \u2013 these are territorially-bound self-governing units of between thirty and two hundred members; these in turn are grouped into Federations.[xviii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past five years, the federations have made a concerted effort to tackle cocaine paste production. The leader of each local level sindicato<\/em> organizes frequent commissions (composed of union leaders and community members) to check that no member is producing cocaine paste on his or her land.[xix]<\/a> If a functioning or even abandoned production site is found, then the sindicato<\/em> will impose sanctions against the landowner, including prohibiting them from growing coca[xx]<\/a> or in extreme cases, confiscating the land and expelling the culprit from the community. The threats are real, and the majority of coca farmers will not allow the pichicateros<\/em> to set up production sites on their land.<\/p>\n

Coca growers worry about the trade\u2019s harmful impact on their communities. \u201cPichicata<\/em>, it\u2019s just so ugly,\u201d one woman said, \u201cI want my son to go to university. I worry about him being tempted by the easy cash.\u201d<\/em> Coca farmers also oppose cocaine paste production because of concerns about local pride. Drug production is seen as bringing shame on the community \u2013 indeed, one leader likened it to the whole community having a criminal record. Moreover, association with drug trafficking can have serious material consequences. One union leader described how the coca grower-dominated municipal government will suspend public works investment to any community suspected of being involved in cocaine paste production.\u00a0 In a region where many people do not have access to roads or basic services, this represents a significant threat. Another important factor is envidia<\/em> (jealousy); people do not like to think that someone is making more money at their expense, and this motivates them to denounce pichicateros<\/em> to the sindicato<\/em> and to the police.<\/p>\n

Finally, as the Chapare coca growers identify strongly with the goals of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS by its Spanish acronym) administration, they genuinely do not want to make the government look bad by engaging in illicit activities.\u00a0 One coca grower explained that they collaborate in the fight against drug trafficking to \u201cshut up the international community\u201d and also to assist in the government\u2019s long battle to legalize coca leaf. The coca growers know that if President Morales fails and another government enters, they face the prospect of a return to the militarized coca eradication of the 1990s and 2000s, which generated widespread poverty and provoked violent conflicts in the region.[xxi]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The impact of Federation action <\/strong><\/p>\n

The pichicateros<\/em> feel the pinch of the Chapare Federations\u2019 commitment to tackle drug production. Previously, during the US backed drug war, they could process cocaine paste close to the main roads and towns, safe in the knowledge that their neighbors would not denounce them to the authorities. US-financed repression against growers was effective in convincing all Chapare residents that the police were enemies.\u00a0 But this is no longer the case; one pichicatero<\/em> lamented that \u201cbefore, the coca growers would tell you when UMOPAR (anti-drug police) were coming, now they just turn you in.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result of this pressure, the pichicateros<\/em> have been forced to alter their behavior, setting up production sites in ever more remote areas in the middle of the night. [xxii]<\/a> They never maintain a production site in one place for more than two weeks. Often absentee landowners are unaware production ever occurred on their property.[xxiii]<\/a> Attempts to bribe local farmers to avoid prosecution are increasingly unsuccessful, due to the unions\u2019 anti-cocaine stance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the coca-cocaine industry represents a significant segment of Bolivia\u2019s economy, the people who produce cocaine paste are not the industry\u2019s major beneficiaries. The majority of the workers including, pisa-cocas<\/em>, peons,<\/em> and quimicos,<\/em> receive relatively low wages for dangerous work.\u00a0 These people should therefore be thought of as the proletariat of the cocaine trade.[xxiv]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Given the low wages, harmful working conditions and the risk of being caught (and facing eight to fifteen years in jail), processing and transporting cocaine paste are not particularly attractive options. As a result, the bulk of people who produce and traffic cocaine paste are temporary migrants or young people who do not own their own land and who have little to lose. Meanwhile, the coca union members who own land would prefer a quiet life dedicated to farming.<\/p>\n

Contrary to the dominant and often dramatic portrayals in the media, the coca unions are not complicit with drug trafficking organizations. Rather, the Federations take their role in the fight against drug trafficking very seriously. There has been a shift in the coca grower perception of drug trafficking. In contrast to the pre-Morales era, today the coca growers identify strongly with the government\u2019s anti-drug goals and are motivated to actively collaborate in the fight against drug trafficking. However, it would be unrealistic to expect the coca unions to be able to stamp out drug production completely \u2013 even the DEA was unable to achieve that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> Thomas Grisaffi received his PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester in 2009. Thomas is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow on the Open Society Foundation\u2019s Drugs, Security and Democracy program and a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Institute of the Americas at University College London. Thomas\u2019s research focuses on coca cultivation, drug control policy and democracy in Bolivia. Thomas has carried out 28 months of ethnographic research in the Chapare province over the past eight years.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/news\/articles\/SB10001424052702304069604579158293350301588<\/a> Wall Street Journal. 27 Oct 2013<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> http:\/\/www.elpotosi.net\/2011\/0527\/18.php<\/a> El Potosi. 27 May 2011<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> http:\/\/www.noticiasfides.com\/g\/opinion\/miguel-manzanera-sj\/a-mas-coca-mas-cocaina-2131\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[v]<\/a> http:\/\/www.eldeber.com.bo\/nota.php?id=131114180155<\/a>.El Deber .14 Nov 2013<\/p>\n

[vi]<\/a> The cocaine content of paste varies from 30% to 80% see Casale, J. & Klein, R. (1993) \u2018Illicit Production of Cocaine\u2019. Forensic Science Review, 5, 95-107<\/p>\n

[vii]<\/a> Gasoline can be recycled and used up to three times for cocaine paste production.<\/p>\n

[viii]<\/a> Pink gasoline has to be refined before it can be used to manufacture cocaine paste; this is an expensive and time consuming process, moreover the refined gasoline is said to be less effective than clear gasoline.<\/p>\n

[ix]<\/a> In the Chapare smuggled gasoline costs 7 Bolivianos or around 1 dollar per liter.<\/p>\n

[x]<\/a> This sum does not include the extra 100 Bolivianos ($15) per 50 pounds paid to merchants who smuggle the coca leaf.<\/p>\n

[xi]<\/a>\u00a0 It costs around $1500 dollars to set up a factory.<\/p>\n

[xii]<\/a> This daily wage is based on a factory that produces two kilos of cocaine paste in one day. The advantage of this work over legal employment is that the wages are better but also the days are significantly shorter. It takes around three hours to produce one kilo of cocaine paste \u2013 so an average workday might only last six hours.<\/p>\n

[xiii]<\/a> If an owner also knows the chemistry of producing cocaine paste then they might work at the production site to save money on wages.<\/p>\n

[xiv]<\/strong><\/a> http:\/\/www.glassdoor.com\/Salary\/McDonald-s-Salaries-E432.htm<\/p>\n

[xv]<\/a> These cars are generally not for personal use but are operated as taxis<\/p>\n

[xvi]<\/a> In the late 1980s Bolivian anti-narcotics policy criminalized coca leaf cultivation in the Chapare and successive governments carried out militarized coca eradication campaigns.<\/p>\n

[xvii]<\/a> The federations make a sharp distinction between coca leaf, a plant Andeans have consumed for millennia, and cocaine, an illicit drug. The federations have proposed the legalization and subsequent industrialisation of coca for licit uses such as teas, shampoo, diet pills, wine and toothpaste.<\/p>\n

[xviii]<\/a> For more information on sindicato organization see Grisaffi, T. (2013) ‘\u2018All of us are Presidents’: Radical Democracy and Citizenship in the Chapare Province, Bolivia’. Critique of Anthropology,<\/em> 33:1,<\/strong> 47-65<\/p>\n

[xix]<\/a> The sindicatos frequently carry out \u2018control cruzado\u2019<\/em> whereby members of one sindicato will revise the plots of a different sindicato \u2013 this is done to reduce corruption.<\/p>\n

[xx]<\/a> In the Chapare registered farmers are allowed to grow a limited amount of coca (1600 sq meters) known as a cato to supply the traditional legal market. A cato of coca provides the equivalent of the monthly minimum wage.<\/p>\n

[xxi]<\/a>\u00a0 See Ledebur, K. (2005) ‘Bolivia: Clear Consequences’, in C. Youngers & E. Rosin (eds.) Drugs and Democracy in Latin America: The Impact of U.S. Policy. <\/em>\u00a0Lynne Rienner: Boulder, London<\/p>\n

[xxii]<\/a> Production sites are always located a minimum of one hundred meters from the nearest path or road. The pichicateros fear that a passerby will be able to smell the chemicals they are using.<\/p>\n

[xxiii]<\/a> In some cases the landowner is aware that drug production is taking place \u2013 in these cases the pichicateros<\/em> pay the owner a substantial \u2018rent\u2019.\u00a0 Farmers who have a registered cato of coca never knowingly allow a production site to be set up on their land \u2013 from their perspective there is simply too much to lose.<\/p>\n

[xxiv]<\/a> For similar arguments see Aguilo, F. (1986) ‘Los Peones de la Coca\u00edna’. Cuarto Intermedio,<\/em> 1,<\/strong> 44-57 also Leons, B. & Sanabria, H. (eds.) (1997) Coca, Cocaine and the Bolivian Reality. <\/em>State University of New York Press: Albany, N.Y.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can you get rich from the Bolivian Cocaine Trade? Cocaine Paste Production in the Chapare Thomas Grisaffi\u00a0 Originally published on\u00a0the Andean Information Network \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0…Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266,"featured_media":340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan you get rich from the Bolivian cocaine trade? - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/can-you-get-rich-from-the-bolivian-cocaine-trade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can you get rich from the Bolivian cocaine trade? - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can you get rich from the Bolivian Cocaine Trade? 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