USA
Last January, the Stepan Company managed to get the state agency to renew its permit to continue importing coca leaves.
2/4/2023
As reported Daily Mailthe first of these companies, located in the state of New Jersey, can produce a “decocainized” extract for one of the leading global beverage companies. The raw material is imported from South America, specifically in Bolivia and Peru (one of the largest producers of it).
Regarding the current number of plants that enter the United States annually, the British newspaper made estimates going back to the eighties. At that time, around 500 tons were reported, which is equivalent to approximately two million grams.
The permission with which Stepan Company can transform this type of sheet also covers a manufacturer of opioids, that is, a type of medicine that is specifically associated with pain relievers used by dentists.
A matter of ‘double standards’?
This is how, according to details Daily Mail, The Coca Cola Company it has been in the middle of a ‘legal’ import and managed to avoid being part of the restrictions in a country that, for years, has tried to highlight its fight against narcotics. For some connoisseurs of what at one time could have been ‘secret’, there are inconsistencies between what is proclaimed and practiced.
“The end product is an epic and damning story of hypocrisy: while the government leads the charge in criminalizing the 10 million people who chew coke, it has simultaneously conspired with a multinational giant (…) to guarantee an endless supply of coca to feed their profits”, said the American journalist, Jeremy Scahill, about the book ‘A secret history of coffee, coca & cola’, written by Ricardo Cortés.
More than 20 arrests for drug trafficking
In isolated news, in recent days more than 22 people have been arrested in the Netherlands, France and Spain for their alleged relationship with a network that would traffic drugs and be responsible for laundering money. The announcement was made by the Marseille Prosecutor’s Office, in the south of the French country.
The operation to find these twenty people began on March 27 and involved the deployment of some 300 uniformed personnel throughout the European continent. As for the places where the drug came from, in the middle of transit, the inquiries pointed to Spain and the Netherlands to the southeast and east of France.
However, as detailed AFPMost of the cocaine consumed in Europe originates from Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. The head of the Nice judicial police (who had been targeting the network for three years) told that agency that “the particularity of this case is the profile” of those linked.
He described these as “very large traffickers, men of a certain age, discreet, unknown to the police services and who remained under the radar for years.” A police spokeswoman expanded that the detainees were found in their homes and in the middle of journeys. It is estimated that this international network could have been in operation between five and ten years.
© 2023 SA Week Publications
SA Week Publications
Last News
Our brands
About us
Contact Us
Our App
Consumer Protection
Siganos:
Remember: The only accounts authorized to make deposits for the concept of subscriptions and renewals in the name of PUBLICACIONES SEMANA SA with NIT 860.509.265 -1, are: Banco de Bogotá: Current Account Number 00033073-8 Bancolombia: Savings Account Number 040- 359946-75
All registered trademarks are the property of the respective company or of PUBLICACIONES SEMANA SA The total or partial reproduction of any of the content that appears here is prohibited, as well as its translation into any language without the written authorization of its owner.