Drug info - Cocaine article by Michael Valentine Smith

[Chefko]

The coca plant is an evergreen, native to South America, particularly the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Columbia, and should not be confused with the cocoa plant, from which chocolate is made. Although the coca plant is native to South America, it has been successfully cultivated in Java, West Indies, India and Australia.
The coca plant is grown on mountain slopes or terrace uplands that have a tropical or semi-tropical climate. Actually, the plant is grown under conditions which are little suited for other crops. These mountainous areas of South America vary in altitude from 1,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level and temperatures of 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The most suitable conditions for the development of the coca plant are clay type soils, rich in humus and iron content, situated in sheltered upland valleys and exposed to constant humidity and rain precipitation. Under ideal conditions, the plant can survive, for a century or more, growing steadily in strength. In the cultivation of the coca plant, the seeds are usually taken from a plant three or more years old, placed in containers and germinated in damp sheltered nurseries. They are watered heavily for five days until they begin to swell after which they are planted in a mixture of humus sand and earth, in equal proportions, shaded and abundantly watered. After about a week and a half, the shoots begin to appear and the germinated seeds can be transplanted within 2 months. The sparsely leaved plant is usually 6 to 10 inches in height and is transplanted in the open since it has become resistant to most climatic variations. The young plant is usually planted in small trenches varying in density from 1 to 4 plants per square yard.
Once the young plant has been transplanted (usually in the wintertime) into open fields, there is very little the cultivator does except leave the plants to themselves. Where dampness is constant and rain is regular, even irrigation is unnecessary. After approximately 1 year from the transplanting, the coca plant yields its first crop of leaves which is generally the reason the coca bush has been cultivated in the first place. The plant normally yields 4 crops of leaves per year. The coca plant is a shrub-like bush which grows from 5 to 10 feet tall with widely branched trunks containing twigs which become densely populated with leaves toward the ends. The green smooth edged leaves vary from 1 to 3 inches long and smell very similar to tea leaves. Normally, in order for the harvesting of the coca leaf to be profitable, there must be a minimum of 72,000 plants for every 10,000 square meters and the plant must last for over 30 years. Approximately 10 million coca plants produce 700,000 kilograms of coca leaf.
The average coca leaf contains from 0.5 to 1 % of the alkaloid cocaine although there are various factors influencing the cocaine content including atmospheric conditions, age and condition of the plant, quality of the soil, fertilizers used, timing of cultivation and harvesting, the drying process, etc. It is estimated that one man can harvest approximately 30 kilograms of leaves in a day.
The drying process is very important and takes approximately 2 days of at least 3 hours of daily sunshine. During the process, the leaves must be turned over for even drying. If the drying is to extensive, the leaves will become too dry and lose their commercial value. In the drying process, the coca leaf loses more than 75% of its original weight. The leaf is divided into 3 basic categories:
1. Dark green colored leaf, dried by mechanical means or by airing and pressed into bales. This form is best suited for use in export.
2. Dark colored leaf resulting from defective drying and deliberately beat in order to meet wide demand for consumption.
3. Leaves which as a result of neglect, dampness, delay in drying or disease, have lost some of their alkaloid content, and are of practically no commercial value. This type of coca leaf is often used as a local fertilizer.
Once the leaves are dry, they are pressed and wrapped into packages of 50 or 30 kilograms. In 1965, 1 kilogram of dried coca leaf, in Bolivia, was valued at approximately one dollar.
The coca leaf is commonly chewed by the natives of South America. The natives claim that the cocaine depresses their hunger and increases their strength. The leaves are very bitter when chewed and are often flavored with another substance such as lime. It has been estimated that over 90% of the Indians chew the coca leaf. The native chews, on an average, about two ounces of coca leaf daily and is often characterized by blackish red deposits on his teeth.
The coca leaf is either consumed by the natives of South America or exported to other countries for consumption. Another use of the coca leaf is in the extraction of cocaine either for illegitimate or legitimate use. The majority of the legal and/or clandestine cocaine factories are in South America due to the cost and bulk of transporting the whole leaf. In 1961, Bolivia produced an annual crop of from 12,000 to 18,000 tons of leaves although only half reached the legal market. The alkaloid cocaine is extracted from the coca leaf in basically three different chemical procedures. These procedures are used both in licit and illicit labs in the production of cocaine.

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1. The dried coca leaf is treated, through a chemical process, with an acid solution such as sulfuric acid, producing raw cocaine or coca paste. The coca paste which contains approximately 70% cocaine, is put through another chemical process with hydrochloric acid creating a hydrochloric salt or cocaine hydrochloride which is soluble in water. This particular process is very time consuming and can take from 1 to 2 weeks to complete. This process is used by both the legitimate and illicit manufacturers of cocaine.
2. The dry coca leaf is treated in a chemical process with a basic solution such as sodium carbonate, producing raw cocaine. The raw cocaine is then put through another chemical process with hydrochloric acid creating a hydrochloric salt or cocaine hydrochloride. This process is less time consuming than process No. 1 and it is probably the one preferred by the illicit manufacturer.

3. The third process is more advanced and technical than the other two procedures. The basic advantage of this process is that it gives a greater yield. The dried coca leaf, with it's various alkaloids including cocaine, is broken down into ecgonine which is the chemical base or core of the cocaine molecule. The ecgonine is then treated with methyl iodide and benzoic anhydride in a chemical process creating pure cocaine.
The Peruvian coca leaves, because of their richness, are commonly used in the extraction process as described in 1 or 2. When the dried coca leaves have a low cocaine content, the ecgonine process is preferred. Normally, it takes approximately 100 pounds of dried leaves to produce one pound of cocaine.
A chemist from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, who was in Bolivia to observe clandestine cocaine operations, related the following step-by-step procedure for manufacturing cocaine. The method can be conveniently divided into three major steps: (1) extraction of cocaine from the leaf and chemical conversion to the sulfate; (2) treatment of cocaine sulfate with potassium permanganate and conversion to the free base (aka paste); and (3) conversion of the paste or free base to cocaine hydrochloride. In general, steps (1) and (2) are carried out in "sulfate" labs while step (3) is performed in "crystal" labs.

Step 1:
(a) A sufficient volume of warm water is used to dissolve 26 kgm of potassium carbonate. This solution is poured into a "cut-out" drum containing 250 pounds of dried coca leaves (the volume of solution is just enough to cover the leaves).
(b) The coca leaves and carbonate solution are treated in one of three ways:
1. The mixture is stirred by hand.
2. The mixture is stepped on by the local Indians.
3. The mixture remains untouched (the first two methods generally take one day if done by strong individuals while the third method involves a period of four days; the treatment of the leaves with an aqueous solution of potassium carbonate allows penetration of the solution into the leaves converting any cocaine salts to the free base, allowing for subsequent extraction into kerosene).
(c) To the potassium carbonate solution and the leaves are added 200-400 L kerosene. The result of this is a greenish viscous liquid of about 300-400 L. Water and kerosene are immiscible but apparently "bridging" materials are extracted from the leaf which allows miscibility between the potassium carbonate solution and the kerosene; it was also explained that what we know as kerosene is also called benzin and paraffin, depending who is manufacturing the cocaine; this explanation clarified pre-existing conflicts about certain method terminology.
(d) The kerosene extract is separated from the leaves by draining through a plug in the bottom of the drum. The kerosene extract (300-400 L) is placed in another container and 1 L of concentrated sulfuric acid is added very slowly. A precipitate begins to come out of solution and settle to the bottom of the container (apparently kerosene-insoluble cocaine sulfate and other alkaloidal sulfates are formed).
(e) The liquid is separated from the sulfate precipitate and may be used to extract the next batch of fresh leaves (the liquid would probably have to be reconstituted, though, with potassium carbonate, etc.).
(f) The sulfate residue, about 1 kgm, is allowed to dry in the sun for about one day.

Step 2:
(a) Into a container holding 6 L of water and 360 cc of concentrated sulfuric acid the sulfate precipitate from the preceeding step is added and the solution stirred.
(b) In another container 1 L of water and 1 kgm of commercial potassium permanganate are mixed.
(c) The permanganate solution of (b) is slowly poured into the sulfuric acid solution of (a).
(d) The resultant purple-colored solution is then filtered through paper; if the filtrate is colored it is passed back through the filter (the use of potassium permanganate in the manufacturing process has been well-established; it is probably added as a decolorizing agent, with most of the colored residue remaining on the filter paper; commercial potassium permanganate is easily obtained in LaPaz through pharmacies; it is used by the local inhabitants to bathe the feet).
(e) To filtrate of about 6 L is added 1 L of ammonia; a precipitate is formed which is dried in the sun or under ultraviolet light (the resultant precipitate is cocaine free base or paste plus impurities).
Cocaine base (paste) to cocaine hydrochloride
Step 3:
(a) To the approximately 1 kgm of paste in a container is added 10 L of acetone and the resultant solution filtered through paper (the residue on the paper is probably inorganic in nature; ether can be used instead of acetone with some modification in the procedure; both ether and acetone can solubilize cocaine base while they are both good solvents for the crystallization of the hydrochloride salt).
(b) To the filtrate is added 10 L more of acetone; the resultant 20 L is passed through new filter paper. The temperature of the acetone should be about 150 C. in order to accept the hydrochloric acid and alcohol.
(c) To the 20 L of acetone are added 300 cc of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 300 cc of absolute ethanol; on the addition of absolute ethanol cocaine hydrochloride starts crystallizing out.
(d) After 3-4 hours crystal formation is complete and the cocaine hydrochloride crystals are collected on filter paper and dried in air.
Kerosene, which is used in great volumes in the initial extraction procedure is not controlled in Bolivia and is, in fact, used by the populace for heating their homes. It would theoretically be very easy to obtain kerosene in large quantities through pharmacies in La Paz. The inorganic reagents such as sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, ammonia, and potassium carbonate are not controlled. Ether and absolute alcohol, on the other hand, are controlled substances. Diluted alcohol (about 50%) is not controlled though and, accordingly, can be converted to absolute alcohol.

Reputation Comments on this post:

interesting article

[Chefko]

1.Farmer: Cultivates, harvests and sells dried coca leaves to clandestine labs at a price of from $1 to $3 per kilo.



2.Labs: Extract cocaine from the dried coca leaves and sell pure cocaine to the wholesaler at a price of $3,000 per kilo realizing a profit of approximately $2,500 per kilo.



3.Wholesaler: Directly sells or smuggles the kilo of pure cocaine to the distributer for a price of $18,000 per kilo realizing a profit of $15,000 per kilo.




4.Major distributor: "Cuts" the cocaine and sells pound quantities to dealers for $10,000 per pound (50% pure cocaine) realizing a profit of $22,000 from the original kilo he purchased.




5.Dealer: "Cuts" the cocaine and sells ounce quantities (30-40% pure cocaine) to the pushers for $800-$1,200 per ounce, realizing a profit of $10,000 from the pound he originally purchased.





6.Strret Dealer: May "cut" the cocaine and sell gram (spoon) quantities to users for $50-$75 per gram realizing a profit of $1,000 from the original ounce he purchased.







The original 100 kilos of dried coca leaf that it takes to produce 1 kilo of pure cocaine costs approximately $200. The kilo of pure cocaine will eventually be worth over $200,000 when sold to users in 25% pure gram quantities.
The illicitly manufactured cocaine from the various clandestine cocaine labs in South America, is smuggled to various countries including the United States for black market trafficking and use. Those involved in the smuggling of cocaine vary from a one man operation to organized syndicates. The smuggling methods are unlimited and vary with one's imagination. Often times, cocaine is first smuggled into Mexico rather than directly from South America to the United States. Cocaine, as is heroin, is usually packaged in hermetically sealed plastic bags or rubber condoms for smuggling purposes. Once the cocaine enters the US, it is then distributed through various sub-dealers down to the users. Illicit cocaine, basically, comes in three forms:
1. The hard tiny rock form which is readily available, especially to the large wholesaler or dealer.
2. The flake form which is generally fairly pure cocaine which has been broken down into tiny flakes and considered a delicacy among users of cocaine.
3. The powdered form which is usually rock or flaked cocaine diluted with other substances such as lactose or procaine.
In the illicit traffic of cocaine, as in many other drugs, there is a definite channel which the drug goes through from the harvester to the user. Initially, there is the farmer who cultivates, dries and ships the coca leaf to the illicit lab. The clandestine labs then chemically extract 90 to 100% pure cocaine from the leaf. From the lab, the cocaine is usually sold to smugglers or wholesalers at a price of $200 an ounce or $3,000 a kilo. The wholesaler smuggles the cocaine into the United States and sells it to a major cocaine distributor for a certain agreed upon price which varies and ranges from $18,000 to $22,000 a kilo. The distributor will then take the large quantity of cocaine and sell lesser amounts to a number of dealers. He may sell the cocaine in its pure form or dilute it and sell more for a lower price. Most of the traffickers keep in mind that cocaine loses its strength readily and sometimes the cutting or diluting agent will have a tendency after a period of time to begin destroying the cocaine content. When the dealers are in possesison of their 0.5 pound or pound of cocaine, they will most often dilute it with a cutting agent and sell it in ounce quantities to even smaller dealers. The cocaine street pusher will in turn, sell it to the user in gram quantities.

[Benga]

merged.
if swiyou cares to copy and paste more of this Michael Valentine Smith article, please do it in this thread instead of seperate threads. thanks

but really the best would be uploading it in the file archive if it hasn't been already
b

[Chefko]

i think its very informative and i havent found it yet here