The decades-long U.S.-led war on drugs has done little, if anything, to reduce narcotics trafficking and cocaine production. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Colombia’s 2021 cocaine production soared to yet another record high for a third consecutive year. The Colombia produced a record 1,400 metric tons of cocaine, which was a worrying 14% greater than 2020.
Colombia’s unique geographical and geopolitical characteristics facilitate oil theft in the crisis-riven country. The Andean nation’s mountainous terrain along with a lack of transport infrastructure means pipelines are the only cost-effective means of shipping the oil produced in the strife-torn country to ports, storage and processing facilities.
For these reasons oil theft in Colombia is surging and various criminal bands dedicated to the damaging as well as hazardous activity have emerged. A key target is the 220,000 barrel per day Cano Limon pipeline which passes through the Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela. Catatumbo is Colombia’s second largest coca cultivating area and a dangerous conflict hotspot with many illegal armed groups vying for control of the region’s lucrative illicit economy.
Rising petroleum theft in Colombia comes with immense costs not only for the economically vital oil industry which is foundering in its efforts to return to pre-pandemic production volumes. There are considerable environmental risks with illicit vales associated with oil leaks from Colombia’s pipelines causing considerable damage to sensitive local ecology. That is especially concerning because Colombia is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.