Sources of Cocaine

Cocaine is just one of the alkaloidal substances present in the coca leaf. Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. The primary of source of cocaine imported into the U.S. is South America, but the coca plant also grows in the Far East in Ceylon, Java, and India. The plant is cultivated in South America on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru, and Bolivia. There are four varieties of coca plants — Erythroxylon coca var. coca (ECVC), Erythroxylon coca var. ipadu, Erythroxylum novogranatense var. novogranatense, and Erythroxylum novogranatense var. truxillense.1–3 ECVC is the variety that has been used for the manufacture of illicit cocaine.

While cultivated in many countries of South America, Peru and Bolivia are the world’s leading producers of the coca plant. Cocaine is present in the coca leaves from these countries at dry weight concentrations of from 0.1 to 1%. The average concentration of cocaine in the leaf is 0.7%. The coca shrub has a life expectancy of 50 years and can be harvested three or four times a year.

The method of isolating cocaine from the coca leaf does not require a high degree of technical expertise or experience. It requires no formal education or expensive scientific equipment or chemicals. In most instances the methodology is passed from one generation to the next.