Crack, Contras and The CIA 1kg Cocaine is an integral part of the world economy. Its street price reflects the competitive pressures of today's global marketplace. In the past few decades, cocaine has become a significant export-earner for many poor South Amercian countries. South America now exports some 1000 tons of refined cocaine per year.
Smugglers can be quite ingenious.
This century, coca has been grown commercially in Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Malaysia and Japan. The first cocaine cartel was formed, not in Colombia, but in Amsterdam. Founded in 1910, the Cocaine Manufacturers Syndicate included pharmaceutical giants Merck, Sandoz and Hoffman-LaRoche. At present, however, most production occurs in clandestine laboratories in South America. The cocaine trade continues to spawn eyebrow-raising alliances.