This whole post is referring to this statistic: [https://www.statista.com/statistics/443460/percentage-of-population-that-has-used-illicit-drugs-by-drug/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/443460/percentage-of-population-that-has-used-illicit-drugs-by-drug/)
The cartel is so rich and has so much power which makes me wonder how the hell are they making so much money if there’s quite a low of percentage of people using drugs.
In: 2701
There are four major cartels in Colombia, where around [80%](https://museum.dea.gov/exhibits/online-exhibits/cannabis-coca-and-poppy-natures-addictive-plants/coca) of the world’s cocaine comes from. In 2020 alone, roughly 1,982 metric tons of cocaine were produced. So, [roughly 1,586](https://www.barrons.com/news/colombia-sets-new-cocaine-production-record-un-832dac7c) metric tons came from Colombia. That’s 1,586,000 kilos. If each kilo is worth around $70,000 (depending on where you got it), that 1,586 metric tons is worth $111,020,000,000.
**That’s 111 billion dollars. EVERY YEAR. In just coke alone. Coming from only one country.**
Now, not all of that goes directly to the cartels. They sell. Then the next seller has a markup. And the next, etc. But the cartels have networks of dealers too. They also cut a lot which makes that 1,586 tons go further.
Add to this the heroin, meth, and weed from Mexico, Captagon from Syria, opium from Afghanistan, more coke from Brazil and Bolivia, more weed from Dominican Republic, more meth from Laos (and on and on)….
I hope it’s now easy to see why cartels are raking it in.
“…quite a low percentage of people using drugs”Well, there are 7.8 billion people in the world. If [75% of those people are over the age of 15](https://www.statista.com/statistics/265759/world-population-by-age-and-region/), that leaves us with 5,850,000,000. If just 1.79% of those people are regular drug users (of some sort), that leaves us with **104,715,000 people that likely use illicit drugs regularly each year.** Many of them using drugs often during that year.
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