Drug trafficking

Drug cartels test Central America for cocaine production

Cocaine production is beginning to creep into Central America, a development which could bring the supply of the drug closer to the United States and create a new security risk for an already troubled region.

Guatemala made its first official discovery of a field of coca plants this May following the initial find of a plot in Honduras last year. Two more followed in Honduras this year.

“We aspire to have control of our territory, but it’s very difficult to root out these actions,” Jaime Quintanilla, head of the anti-drug trafficking unit in Honduras, told Reuters.


At around 50 hectares in total, the four coca finds were a tiny fraction of the 171,000 hectares under cultivation in Colombia last year, according to Reuters interviews with local officials and official Colombian data.

Honduras and Guatemala, together with El Salvador, are among the poorest and most gang-ravaged countries in the Americas. Mass migration from the region to the United States has created tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump.