Increasing Sophistication in Bolivian Cocaine Production

Bolivia's special force to combat drug trafficking (FELCN) reportedly seized and dismantled some 249 cocaine processing labs in Ichilo province, Santa Cruz department, during a two-day operation that began May 30. The labs were found during raids in the remote towns of San German and Nuevo Horizonte and two additional areas of Yapacani municipality.

The busts mark the largest reported seizure of cocaine labs this year in Bolivia, the world's third-largest coca producer. Police suggested that traffickers in San German were exporting as much as 360 kilograms (about 790 pounds) of cocaine hydrochloride (HCL) — the finished consumer product — to Brazil every 20 days. Although Bolivian labs have historically produced coca paste primarily to be exported and refined elsewhere, Bolivian authorities said some of the seized labs were producing cocaine HCL instead. Combined with increasing involvement of Colombian drug trafficking organizations in the country, this could indicate an increase in the output and sophistication of Bolivia's cocaine production.