Factoria de paste de Cocaine

While in the jungle of Colombia on our trek to the Lost City, We were offered a tour of a cocaine paste factory. Sara did not want to go, but I did. If you ever wanted to learn how to make cocaine paste then here it is.

The tour cost 20,000 COP which is about $12USD. Quite expensive but I guess the "cooker" who showed us around was risking a lot. There were military patrols ALL over the jungle they even had drug dogs with them. The "factory" we toured was about 1/4 of a mile outside of the village our first camp was at. The little village must have known about it, but I'm pretty sure they get a portion of the admission fee. The "cook" said this factory was very small and they had a larger one up in the mountains where the military was less likely to discover it. The factory consisted of 4 posts in the ground with a tarp streached over it. The entire factory covered an area about 10'x10'. They had 2 55gal plastic drums and several buckets. The cook prohibited us from taking pictures of him. And he said we had to hide our camera's memory cards so if we got checked at a military check point they wouldn't see the pictures of the factory.

This is coca leaves on the branch. This is where it all starts. They need 100k (200lbs) of coca leaves to make 100g of cocaine paste.
This is a tarp they mix chemicals on. On the right is fresh coca leaves. In the middle is salt and calcium. On the left is coca leaves soaked in gasoline and then the salt and calcium are mixed into it. This tarp is actually only used to mix the salt and calcium but he was showing us the ingredients.
This is a 55 gal barral which has almost 100k of coca leaf "mash" in it. After being soaked in gasoline for several day. The leaves are now ready to have the salt and calcium mixed into it.


After the salt and calcium are added they drain the gasoline and other ingredients into a seperate barral. This has to be mixed to ensure the calcium and salt adhere to the coca. They then add water to the barral and sulfieric acid. Then mix it more. This somehow adheres all the cocaine mix together. Then they let it settle. All the gas goes to the top and all the mix settles at the bottom. Then they drain the gasoline off and I think dump it into the river (great for the environment).


They take the mix and add "pigiment potasio". I have no idea what that is but they get it from a purple bush. The cook said that the locals and hospitals use the stuff for stomachs and to put on cuts. They mix the pigimento into the mix very slowly. The cook said if you do it too fast it ruins the whole batch. This pigimento potasio causes the mix to clot and traps all the sulfiric acid and left over gasoline. He kept mixing in the pigimento and then cheking it to see the size of the clumps. When they were of the correct size he stoped adding the pigimento potasio. Then he took the purple mix and strained it through a T-shirt 5 times.
After the 5th straining all the pigiment was out and the liquid was clear. This was basically water and cocaine paste now. He took the clear liquid and added "soda" he said they use soda to clean sinks, tubs, and swimming pools. Apparently its used as a heavy duty cleaner. He added a table spoon of the soda and mixed it.
He asked that we take no pictures of him but I snuck this one. I wish I'd gotten more if his face in it. He's mixing the soda into the glass of mix now. You can see he has a gold watch, I never got close enough to see if it was real (I think it was).
He strained the liquid through cheese cloth. This is less then 1g of cocaine paste.


He then rung out all the liquid and scooped it onto a spoon. This is what they bag up and send to the cocaine factory. They make the paste in the deep jungle because that is where all the coca plants are grown. They need such a large amount of plants that its easier to make the paste in the jungle. The cook said this factory usually has 4-5 guys working and that they make 100g of paste every week. In the factory higher in the mountains they have 50 workers and make 100g of paste a day. This paste is taken to another factory (probably more secure) where one more chemicle is added and the actual cocaine powder is derived. The cook said the final chemical is VERY flamable and dangerous. The 100g of paste yields about 900mg of pure cocaine. The cook also said that 100g of paste is worth $3000 USD. I'm not sure if that´s what he gets per 100g or if that´s what the drug lord gets. The cocaine business in Colombia is a way of life. These are just normal villagers and this is simply their job.