How coronavirus disrupts drug trafficking

Audio 03:40

By: Dominique Baillard Follow

Drug traffickers are also affected by the coronavirus. More than any other campaign of repression has succeeded in doing so, containment measures heavily penalize all actors in the sector, from producer to end consumer.

Publicity

Recent price developments reveal the extent of the shock. In Peru, the second cocaine producing country after Colombia, the price of coca leaves has collapsed: -70%. The producer federation has come to ask for government assistance. Because in this country, as in Colombia, the activity of the cartels seems completely frozen by the closing of the borders.

On the other hand, in consumer countries, where goods no longer arrive, as evidenced by the drastic drop in customs catches, prices jump. That of cocaine has exploded in Brazil, cannabis is on the rise in Europe, like synthetic drugs very widespread in the United States, fentanyl and especially methamphetamine.

These increases are often opportunistic. Resellers have largely anticipated a drop in supply before it occurs. Mexican cartels are also suspected of exaggerating retention to drive up prices. But it is clear that the "mules", the passengers who ingested drugs can no longer take the plane, and that the go-fast , cars making ultra-fast trips to deliver drugs, between Spain and France for example, are at a standstill. Transport paralysis is a major handicap for this globalized traffic.

South American cartels also suffer from disruptions in their value chains

As good managers keen to reduce their costs, they import the chemical components essential for the production of synthetic drugs from the highest bidder, that is to say from China. The shutdown of their main supplier, a company in Wuhan, in the city where the pandemic broke out, therefore derailed their industry. The prices of certain inputs have tripled in Mexico; the traffic lords are already recruiting chemists to produce them locally. Another unintended consequence: the laundering of dirty money is also pending with the closure of clothing stores on the West Coast of the United States which serve as screens for Mexican mafias.

Will drug trafficking be permanently affected by the consequences of the pandemic or simply slowed down?

The law enforcement agencies dream of a great evening. Now that the cartel sponsors have one knee on the ground, they want the fight to be stepped up. But the spread of Covid-19 thwarts these projects: the police of producing countries are often monopolized by the fight against the coronavirus, or even decimated by contamination (as in Peru).

In addition, the cartels which are by nature used to thwarting the laws and cheating the police surveillance are adapting: online sales via the dark net, the underground web, are developing, just like a new type of transport. : by drone or light aircraft. Finally, transport by boat or by container remains a safe means of transporting the goods. Only 2% of the containers are subject to customs controls. Drug trafficking will remain a thriving industry, with annual revenues estimated at $ 650 billion.

► In short

American oil starts falling again this morning on Asian markets

The same causes always producing the same effects the barrel of WTI plummeted by 9% in electronic exchanges, for lack of sufficient storage on American soil to keep the crude while waiting for demand to restart.

Egypt yesterday asked for IMF support

Cairo wishes to receive emergency aid to deal with the pandemic. The collapse of tourism and air transport severely penalizes its convalescent economy. With $ 12 billion in aid from the IMF starting in 2016, Egypt was just beginning to weather the economic crisis that followed the Arab Spring of 2011.

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Coronavirus
• Confinement
• Drug