There’s a new cocaine capital in the world, and it’s upending South America

Though they’re just 20 years old, two UK women are facing stiff jail sentences after having been caught with a cocaine shipment valued around $2.5 million. The pair stands trial in Peru, the country that, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, just overtook Colombia as the world’s largest producer of coca, the crop from which cocaine is produced. Regarding the drug itself, the U.S. government estimates that Peru was capable of producing 290 metric tons of pure cocaine in 2012, some 65% more than Colombia, due in part to better crop yields.
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