WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 23: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing a series of executive orders (Image: Shutterstock)
Efforts by the Trump administration to combat fentanyl trafficking and tighten immigration enforcement have contributed to a drop in U.S. cocaine prices, as drug trafficking routes have shifted and opened new opportunities for Mexican cartels.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a significant reallocation of law enforcement resources toward the fentanyl crisis and immigration enforcement has created gaps in border coverage that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, led by Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera, has exploited.
This has led to a surge of Colombian cocaine entering the U.S. market at lower prices.
“The price of pure cocaine has plummeted,” researcher Morgan Godvin told the Journal.
Prices now range from $60 to $75 per gram, down about 25 percent.
Cocaine production in Colombia is at record levels, driven by U.S. demand and a shift in trafficking patterns, per the report.
The 2016 arrest of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, along with recent crackdowns by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the Sinaloa cartel, have weakened key fentanyl trafficking operations.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s expanded deportation efforts have redirected border agents away from fentanyl checkpoints. This means cocaine shipments can now move with less resistance.Oseguera, who is now wanted by the U.S. with a $15 million bounty on his capture, is said to transport cocaine by speedboat from Colombia and Ecuador to Mexico.
The administration recently carried out drone strikes on two vessels in the Caribbean that it claimed were carrying cocaine and fentanyl from Venezuela.
Trump has also publicly floated the idea of military strikes inside Mexico as part of his anti-cartel strategy.