Awesome Figures About Cocaine Smuggling Trade In Algeria

The Algerian Coast Guard’s latest seizure of a large quantity of cocaine weighing 701 kg, on board a ship hailing from Latin America, raised many questions about the nature of this nefarious substance and its prevalence in Algeria, especially since it was the first seizure of its kind recorded.
The seized drugs have been the largest cocaine confiscated in Algeria since 2012, when 165 kilograms of cocaine smuggled with milk powder imported from New Zealand, were intercepted.
The drug smuggling trade in Algeria is dominated by cannabis, whose main source is the fields that are grown in the neighboring Kingdom of Morocco, which is largely consumed locally because of its low price.
According to the relevant studies, the cost of producing one kilogram of cocaine ranges from $ 2,700 to $ 4,000, once they leave the producing farms.
When the drugs reach the West African coast, the cost of one kilogram of cocaine rises to about $ 13,000 and then rises again to $ 16,000 when it reaches the capitals of the Sahel countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The price of one kilogram of cocaine hikes to between $ 24,000 and $ 27,000 when it reaches the cities and capitals of North African countries, before being illegally funneled to Europe, where the price doubles to $ 40-60 thousand dollars.
National security data earlier revealed that the consumption of cocaine in Algeria is done by mixing the pure type with other substances such as paracetamol, where 1 kg of cocaine can be extracted from 10 to 15 kg of ready-to-consume cocaine marketed to addicts ranging from 20 to 25 thousand centimes per gram after treatment.
Based on these figures, the amount of cocaine seized of late at the port of Oran (western Algeria) exceeds the financial value upon arrival in Algeria to more than 42 million dollars, more than four billion and 914 million Algerian dinars, a fantastic number which will double as pure cocaine will be mixed with other materials.
The drug trade, especially the “luxury” species, provides tens of billions of dollars in the coffers of drug cartels, gangs and mafia in the world, which have become the most important part of the “drug economy” or “green gold” while governments allocate billions more to fight drugs, addiction and associated plagues.
Cocaine is the most active natural stimulant. It is derived from the leaves of the coca plant, which grows in South America, where it has been chewed by the indigenous people for 5,000 years, especially in Bolivia and Peru, or with tea drinking to revive and overcome fatigue.
According to studies and reports, the cocaine trade follows three major American, British and African routes, making Algeria a center of consumption and transit of this type of drug destined to European countries.
The cycle of producing and marketing cocaine from Latin American farms begins in the form of a green plant that is less expensive than many agricultural products such as wheat.
It does not require much water or much attention, except for the cost of agriculture and its workers made mainly up of outsiders.
Drug farmers receive only a small fraction of the colossal money spawned by this lucrative industry, but the amounts they receive remain better for them than for any other crop.
According to reports, drugs, including cocaine, are marketed through three major foci in the world, two in Asia and one in Latin America.
In Asia, the first focus is in South-East Asia, specifically in the border triangle between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. This region is called the “Golden Triangle” and feeds East Asian and South-East Asian countries with drugs.
The second region is the Golden Crescent, which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in particular, the main source of drugs to China, Russia and the former Soviet Union, as well as Europe via Turkey and across East Africa.
The third focus, most probably because of the criminal activity of drug cartels and criminal gangs in Colombia and Mexico, is responsible for the export of drugs to the rest of Latin America, Central and North America, as well as to Europe through the Sahel African countries.
In October 2017, the British daily newspaper “The Telegraph” published new statistics showing cocaine prevalence and serious offenses worldwide, according to the latest data provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Fortunately, Algeria and Arab countries were absent from the list.
According to the source, Albania topped the list of countries in terms of consumption, with 2.5 per cent of its population aged between 16 and 64 years using cocaine, followed by Scotland, the United States, Spain, Australia and the Netherlands, as well as two South American countries, namely Chile and Uruguay.
The list also included France, Israel, Italy, Ghana and Canada.
Many may be surprised to learn that Colombia ranks 34 out of 115 countries, although it is a country that produces and distributes cocaine, as only 0.7 per cent of the local population consume these deleterious drugs.