Those who are dedicated to probing the coca market have encountered a curious phenomenon: while the CPI rises and the prices of products such as the coffee either cocoacocaine undertakes the reverse path. Its cost seems to be in free fall. If a few years ago there was talk of more than 30,000 euros per kilogram of white powder, today there are sources that place it at barely 13,000a collapse that also coincides with an apparent increase of traffic and a high consumption.
A difficult equation to solve.
What do the figures say? It is not easy to talk about cocaine trafficking and the price. There is data and people dedicated to studying it, but for obvious reasons much of the information available is based on estimates. I shared the last one a few days ago The Catalan Newspaper in an extensive report in which he assures that right now a kilo of cocaine on the black market is around 13,000 euros.
The same newspaper recalls that not so long ago a kilo brick was around 20,000 euros, but if you use the newspaper archive you will find information which show that a mere decade ago it was priced at between 27,000 and 29,000 euros in the Rías Baixas or even above 30,000 in Madrid and Valencia.
What’s more, just a few months ago The Voice of Galicia assured that the official reference with which the Ministry of the Interior worked when calculating the value of the seized drugs set the value of a kilo at just over 30,500 euros.
Is it something new? No. And that’s the curious thing. The media has been reporting on the drop in the price of coca for more than a year, sometimes with slight swings. Now does it The Newspaperbut a year ago I did it the Galician press and in 2023 it had the same message ABCwhich already at that time included the words of Fernando Iglesias, head of the Customs Surveillance Service in Galicia: “Its price has plummeted and that leads to a brutal offer.”
“Cocaine prices have been devalued by almost half compared to just a few years ago, and that is a very clear indicator of the current abundance of this drug,” agreed the head of the Galician Foundation against Drug Trafficking. According to the data what he was driving at the time ABCthe kilo of Colombian coca that 20 years ago was paid for 30,000 euros had gone to price 17,000.
Prices, however, always refer to a kilo. Curiously, this accelerated cheapening of drugs does not seem to have transferred to the street. Where the gram still costs the same than before: it remains around the 50 and 60 eurosdespite the fact that those who handle large quantities of drugs do so at a much lower cost.
Are there more trends? Yes. Again they are based on estimates and indications, but they are just as interesting. The first tells us about the type of drug that is consumed. Not only has a kilo of coca become cheaper, it also seems to be purer.
That at least is what emerges from the data from Energy Control, an agency dedicated to analyzing samples delivered by anonymous buyers. Their studies show that, on average, the samples that arrive have a purity that exceeds 70%. Other studies They have also noted an increase in purity.
What about consumption? If there is a clear (and relevant) trend, it is the one that tells us about demand, which can be analyzed based on two key clues: studies on consumption and seizures of caches. In the first case (demand), the European Drug Report 2025 stands out, which reveals that Spain is the country with a highest percentage of population that has taken coca at some point in their life. The figure here reaches 13.3%, well above France and Denmark (9.4%).
Do we have more clues? Yes. The European study, presented in June, slid that there are indications that consumption is increasing in the EU and even advised administrations to prepare for a rebound in demand for treatments. The percentage of people who admit to having tried the white powder also has been increasing over the last few years.
The latest EADES survey (2024) indicates that 13% of individuals from 15 to 64 years old admit having used cocaine at some time, which marks the maximum in the historical series. In 2022 that indicator marked 11.7% and if we go to the early years of the 2000s the data was even lower. The Man Project Observatory also has noted its increase among users seeking to detoxify: in a matter of a decade it has gone from being the main addiction of 27% of users to extending its shadow to reach approximately 41%.
What about seizures? They are another thermometer. At the end of the day, whether more or fewer caches are ‘hunted’ depends on the authorities’ aim, but also on the intensity of traffic. The Newspaper remember that the police only manage to seize a relatively low percentage of all the drugs that arrive at the ports.
In the absence of more updated data, the 2024 Annual Drug Statistics published in July by the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) shows that last year Interior recorded an increase in cocaine seizures of 5.2%, which places them at approximately 123 tons.
“There is more cocaine than ever”recognize police sources to The Newspaper about the situation that exists in cities like Barcelona. The same medium specifies that in 2023 and 2024 Customs Surveillance located just over 60 million tons of coca hidden in containers arriving by sea from South America. The reason for these data? One possibility is a change in routes that reduces the volume traveled through Holland and Belgium and places Spain as a gateway to Europe.
What about the prices? If demand does not seem to be suffering… Why are prices falling, at least in the channels where kilos are moved (another thing is the price on the streets)? Those who analyze the phenomenon put forward several hypotheses.
There are those who point to surplus generated during the pandemic and who points out the changes in the market and its actors. One of the main theories focuses on another point: the peace agreement reached in 2016 between the Colombian State and the guerrilla, an agreement that freed hectares of jungle for coca cultivation.
It also didn’t help that decided to do without of aerial fumigation with glyphosate as a tool to eradicate plantations, since it took away a key asset from the authorities in the fight against drug trafficking. The measure was adopted due to the impact of the chemical on the environment and on the health of the population, but in April the Minister of Defense slipped that the State would be posing recover fumigations. In September there were messages in that same direction.
Images | Ministry of Government Ecuador (Flickr), Ministry of the Interior 1 and 2, Colin Davis (Unsplash)
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