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.
One of the big important parts is that drugs tend to be illegal, which way raises the premium they can charge for the product. Production costs are really low compared to the high prices they can charge.
People are trying to find an easy explanation, but the reasons are somewhat complex.
A. Drug addictions often become non-negotiable. Once you are thoroughly addicted, you can’t dispute price-gouging – you don’t have the time to find another dealer that *might* have better deals. So even if most of the population doesn’t indulge, those that are addicted are what other industries term “whales”, people who will *not* stop spending as long as the service isn’t fundamentally disrupted.
B. Since the addiction-forming drugs we are talking about are illegal in most countries, you can’t really do anything against exploitation, either. Rat out your dealer and you don’t have anyone to supply you.
C. Cartels control many illegal businesses. Prostitution/pimping, illegal modifications to guns (or even getting guns at all), anything that’s illegal is a great opportunity for cartels. They are already doing really illegal shit, so the jump is easier, and there’s synergy to be had – getting sex workers addicted, for example, has long been a tactic to extract maximum profit out of them.
D. Cartels do *lots* of other, legal things – and in some places explicitly step in where the government is too unstable to fulfill its duties (…something the cartels often make worse, very effective for cartels). So in the countries where they produce drugs and have a far stronger foothold, they often rival the state. They also provide an in-group community to members, and once they’ve gone on for a generation or two, there are people who are basically born into a cartel and are molded by it.
E. They do all the things other companies under capitalism do to maximize profit and power. They often have (or are associated with) above-board companies, they do lobbying, bribing etc. – and they have the synergy of, again, already doing illegal shit. Their workers can’t complain to a union and can’t call on the state to help. Conventional union busting is basically not necessary when there literally can’t be a union.
cartels do protection, enforcement, security, training, theft, crypto heists, silent partner in local businesses, logistics
some cartels make more moving avocados than coke or fentanyl
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