The Spectre of Fentanyl in Colombia raises fears of a new crisis
The drug has increasingly been showing up in synthetic cocktails, but experts say an opioid epidemic similar to the US is unlikely
Greetings Piratas!
After a wonderful guest appearance by Amy last week in which she explained inflation and currency problems in Argentina, the Colombian crew is back at the helm. Joshua has been tied up sending pitches and working on a piece about clean energy transition, while Daniela has been mass-producing articles for El Pais.
Fentanyl has been in the news here lately, as some sound the alarm that the drug is making inroads into the Andes. But is a US-style opioid crisis really in the making?
Daniela reached out to experts this week to address rumors of domestic production, consumption and even possible exportation to the U.S.
Read on for details!
The Spectre of Fentanyl in Colombia raises fears of a new crisis
The drug has increasingly been showing up in synthetic cocktails, but experts say an opioid epidemic similar to the US is unlikely
Fentanyl has been increasingly found in synthetic drug cocktails in Colombia, and overdoses as a result have made for headline stories here. The rise in popularity of designer drugs has some has some wondering if Colombia could be experiencing the beginning of a tropical opioid crisis.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid much cheaper and stronger than heroin and morphine has had a devastating effect on users in North America amidst an opioid crisis there that has worsened considerably in recent years. According to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), between 2021 and early 2022, the number of people killed by opioid overdoses in the U.S reached an all-time high of 109,000.
In neighboring Canada, in 2017 the death rate from opioid use soared to 118.3 deaths per million inhabitants. The Canadian government recently initiated a pilot program study whether decriminalizing opioids and monitoring their use can reduce deaths among the public from overdoses.
And rising concern over Mexico, which has become the largest producer of the synthetic drug in Latin America (though China continues to be, by far, the largest global producer), has created panic in U.S lawmakers, some of whom have even suggested that the U.S should bomb cartels in Mexico.
That idea, fortunately, is considered bonkers by serious analysts. But concern over Fentanyl production, and the deadly toll its consumption brings in its wake, isn’t unique to North America, it is spreading to other countries in Latin America as well.
Evidence shows Fentanyl is trafficked from Mexico to the U.S by the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels, and production is rising, despite denials from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In Colombia, media attention on Fentanyl has mostly been focused on its use as an ingredient in other synthetic drugs, such as the drug Tusibi, sometimes also called “Pink Cocaine” or “Tusi” —a drug cocktail that usually contains ketamine, MDMA, caffeine, coloring, sweetener and sometimes benzodiazepines, oxycodone, fluoxetine and other opiate derivatives.
Tusi has become increasingly popular in Latin America, even outside of Colombia, and the exact composition of the drug varies widely from dealer to dealer. But recently, traces of Fentanyl have been making their way into the drug as well— including among samples tested at recent music festival” Estéreo Picnic” in Bogotá.
Échele Cabeza Cuando se dé en la Cabeza, an initiative that disseminates information on psychoactive substances for risk and harm reduction, maintained a presence at the festival, and testing of substances, which revealed Fentanyl in some samples. Julian Quintero, head of the project, explained to PWS that despite the need to be alert however, Fentanyl should not generate panic of an opioid crisis in Colombia.
The drug, which has been nominally used in hospitals here for years in controlled doses due to its strength, is not widely consumed in Colombia. But it has become a risk in synthetic cocktail drugs like Tusi as a very small overdose of Fentanyl can result in the death or permanent damage in the consumer.
Apparently however, criminal groups see Colombia as a country ripe for production and export as well. Colombian law enforcement sources recently told newspaper El Espectador that the Sinaloa cartel is looking to set up laboratories to produce fentanyl in Colombia and would be aided in the endeavor by criminal groups in the department Antioquia— the department where the vast majority of production of “Tusi” occurs.
Quintero stressed to PWS that it is important to keep in mind Fentanyl is not currently produced in Colombia in large amounts, nor is it usually consumed directly. "It has been consumed in the illegal market [in synthetic cocktails like “Tusi”] for years in Colombia. Fentanyl is also sometimes used in hospitals for severe pain, as a treatment for heroin addiction, and in very low concentrations.” But widespread recreational use has never caught on “because the heroin produced in Colombia is of high quality and readily available in illegal markets," he said.
Quintero explained that widespread recreacional consumption is unlikely in Colombia because other drugs, from heroin to cocaine, are of high quality and available at much lower prices than in the United States or Canada. In addition to market forces, he explained that cultural differences also do not generate a favorable scenario for opioids. In South America, stimulants such as ecstasy, LSD or MDMA are consumed much more frequently than opioids.
Martin Raithelhuber, an expert on synthetic drugs and international coordinator of the Global SMART program of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), agrees. In an interview with Insight Crime he stated, "The opioid crisis in the United States was caused by a combination of very specific factors, some of which also existed to a lesser degree in Canada. I think many of those factors are absent in Latin America.”
Nonetheless, in April, supposed members of the Sinaloa cartel were arrested in Colombia and charged with conspiracy to export synthetic pills that included Fentanyl to the United States. As the spread of “Tusi” shows, Colombian drug laboratories are versatile and prolific. And as PWS has reported before, some labs are turning away from cocaine production and ramping up production of other drugs.
But law enforcement authorities doubt small labs in Colombia could compete economically with industrial operations in Asia that produce the drug en masse.
It still isn’t clear however after 10 months in office how Colombian President Gustavo Petro plans to react to drug production and consumption. The president has said on several occasions that the “War on Drugs” has been a complete failure, referring to militarized and aggressive policies championed by the United States since the seventies. He has called for an end to “forced eradication” of coca, in which military units burn coca fields in armed operations. Yet during the short time he has been in office, cocaine seizures have reached an all-time high and militarization remains the principal strategy of armed forces in coca producing regions.
Quintero agrees that the prohibitionist fight against drugs has failed and a new path needs to be created. He suggests that it is time for the health authorities to prepare and deliver naloxone, an antidote for opiate overdoses; a measure that has been implemented in some places in Canada and the U.S.
He also advises the creation of education campaigns so that people can identify the risks of drug consumption. ,“Misinformation about drugs has sometimes been even more risky than drugs themselves”, he says. It is an observation that 15 years of working in the field has only reinforced for him.
Last week, some criminal gangs in Medellin, as part of negotiations for Petro’s "Total Peace" policy, announced an agreement with the government not to traffic or produce Fentanyl, which, if they keep their word would represent a serious victory for public health.
For Colombia, it is best to exercise caution and vigilance, especially as one of the largest drug-producing nations in the world, but panic over a potential Andean Fentanyl crisis seems for the moment to be unwarranted.
The Big Headlines in LATAM
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency near the border with Chile in response to the influx in arrivals, and mobilized joint operations by the military and police in response to growing migration.
More than 700 troops have been deployed in response to what Peruvian officials have claimed is a “crisis”.
Chile has cracked down on people living in the country without legal documentation in recent weeks, prompting an increase in the number of those seeking to leave.
Colombia hosted a conference for Venezuelan opposition members in an attempt to restart talks in Mexico between opposition parties and the Maduro government. The Venezuelan politicians present announced the possibility of supporting an ease on US-Sanctions imposed in 2019 as part of negotiations.
The conference took an unexpected turn however when Juan Guaidó , who declared himself interim president that same year, showed up to Bogotá uninvited after entering the country informally. After declaring his presence in the capital, the Venezuelan politician was visited by migration officials. By 11 p.m that evening, Guaidó was on a plane bound for Miami. Though he initially claimed he had been “deported”, he later walked back that claim, saying Colombian officials “threatened him with deportation.”
What we’re writing:
Daniela has been on a publishing spree. She had three articles out this week for El Pais. One dealt with ongoing negotiations between criminal groups and the Colombian government in Medellin. She also looked into why efforts by the Petro administration have failed to stop a long-ongoing murder spree of social leaders, activists and land defenders in the country.
And finally she covered the death of an indigenous infant supposedly in protective care in Bogotá. The episode illustrates the poor care many displaced indigenous families receive in the capital.
Spanish Word of the Week
pavonearse - to strut around like a peacock, to show self-satisfaction, or to brag and show off
se pavoneaba de haber conseguido más premios que ninguno de sus compañeros - he boasted of having won more awards than any of his peers
Joshua heard this word walking around Bogotá, and had absolutely no idea what it meant, so he went home and looked it up.
Having learned a new word, he immediately took to PWS pavonearse and show off his fancypants Spanish vocabulary.
And now you can too!
Until next week dear readers!
Thank you for the insightful reporting!