Cocaine Production is Skyrocketing in Colombia And Much Of It Is Being Found At The Border

Cocaine production in South America is surging, with a United Nations report estimating a 53% increase in output from 2022 to 2023, reaching 2,664 metric tons. In fact, farmers in Colombia, have become so efficient at growing it that they have doubled their yield per acre, as a new piece from Border Report reveals.

This rise is being seen at the U.S.-Mexico border, where drug seizures are increasing even as fentanyl-related incidents begin to decline.

Several recent episodes at the border illustrate the surge. On February 24, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Hidalgo International Bridge in Texas intercepted a passenger bus entering from Mexico and found $2.7 million worth of cocaine hidden inside.

According to an official CBP statement, officers used nonintrusive inspection equipment and canine screening, leading to a physical search that uncovered 80 packages of cocaine weighing 208.16 pounds. Homeland Security Investigations arrested the bus driver and six passengers and has initiated a criminal investigation.

Less than two weeks later, CBP officers at the Pharr (Texas) port of entry cargo facility seized $6.2 million in cocaine concealed in a shipment of plastic roll, as Border Report explains.

"Cocaine never left," said Omar Arellano, special agent in charge of the DEA's El Paso Division. "Cocaine continues to be one of the primary drugs of choice [...] so it's never left our radar."

While U.S. law enforcement has prioritized fentanyl in recent years, Arellano emphasized that cocaine remains central to drug trafficking organizations, including Colombia's Clan del Golfo, FARC, and ELN, as well as Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

CBP data indicates that while fentanyl seizures have declined in early 2025, cocaine and methamphetamine seizures are rising. "Fentanyl continues to be a major problem for us. We continue to attack it on all levels," Arellano said. "But our focus on cocaine is not going away."