COLOMBIA’S president has sparked controversy by claiming cocaine is ‘no worse than whiskey’ and should be ‘sold like wine’.
Gustavo Petro added that cocaine is only illegal ‘because it comes from Latin America’ and implied it was part of a western plot to keep South American economies down.
He made the explosive comments during an unprecedented live broadcast of a government meeting on Tuesday, even as Spain continues to battle record drug shipments through its ports.
The leader of the world’s biggest cocaine producer argued that global legalisation would ‘easily dismantle’ drug trafficking networks currently shipping vast quantities to Europe and the US.
“If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business of drug trafficking,” Petro declared during the six-hour ministerial meeting.
“It could easily be dismantled if they legalise cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine.”
His controversial statements come as cocaine production in Colombia hit record levels in 2023, with output soaring by 53% to 2,600 tons according to UN figures.
Meanwhile, the number of cocaine busts at Spanish ports and inland continues to break all previous records.
Nearly three tonnes were seized along the Guadalquivir river near Sevilla last month, as well as half a tonne discovered inside industrial machinery that had been smuggled in through Valencia port just days later.
Another seven tonnes were found in underground farm cellars near Sevilla in December, while a Brazilian mule was stopped at Madrid airport with €2 million worth of cocaine in his suitcase.
The largest bust in Spain’s history was made just days earlier in November, when 13 tonnes were discovered in a container at the port of Algeciras that was later linked to one of Spain’s top police chiefs in Madrid.
Despite the consistent busts, raids and arrests, organised gangs continue to flood the European market with cocaine from Colombia through Spain.
Petro’s administration has been pursuing peace talks with armed groups involved in drug trafficking, aiming to end six decades of conflict in the South American nation.
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Reading this makes me wonder if cocaine is a state sponsored activity in Columbia’s agriculture sector. Making peace with the armed groups would open the way for Colimbia to regularise the industry, and collect taxes!