Is Honduras the Newest Cocaine Threat? 

If left unchecked, the country's fledgling production efforts, while nowhere near those of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, could give rise to a new generation of drug traffickers, reports The Guardian.

Is Honduras the Newest Cocaine Threat? 

Honduras is experiencing a new surge in domestic cocaine production after decades serving as just a bridge between South American manufacturers and the United States, reports The Guardian. If left unchecked, the country’s fledgling production efforts, while nowhere near those of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, could give rise to a new generation of drug traffickers. Honduran coca plantations are now sprouting up in hard to-reach mountainous regions in the far eastern reaches of Colón.

Authorities have gathered sufficient intelligence to determine that a mix of family drug clans new and old are behind the plantations. A kilo of cocaine is currently worth about $13,000 in Honduras, with a trafficker typically earning between $500 and $1,500 a kilo passed on to the next group in the chain. But a kilo produced domestically could net a profit of over $10,000. Yields per acre vary widely, but even a small plantation like this one could come to generate annual profits in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.