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Aug 02, 2023

This country is using seized cocaine as a construction material

Encapsulation Area – UNODC by: Marcela Chavez Posted: Feb 20, 2023 /

Encapsulation Area – UNODC

by: Marcela Chavez

Posted: Feb 20, 2023 / 02:57 PM PST

Updated: Feb 20, 2023 / 02:58 PM PST

QUITO, Ecuador. (KSEE/KGPE) – Ecuador is using cocaine as a building material as a means of dealing with the large amounts confiscated by law enforcement, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

According to the UNODC, cocaine production has reached new records in recent years: officials report that 200 tons of cocaine were seized in Ecuador in 2021 thanks to successful operations by law enforcement agencies – but it raises the issue of how to destroy large amounts of powder as fast as possible to stop it from getting into the black market.

Incinerating it is an option, but there is a long processing time. An alternative put together by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ecuador's government, and a private sector partner to implement a fast, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly disposal method to get rid of large amounts of cocaine – mix it into construction materials.

The UNODC explains that cocaine, cement, sand, and water are mixed in a special ratio and used, to build concrete platforms for storage facilities at a waste disposal plant, for example.

During setting (hydration), the cement reacts chemically with the other materials present and forms a stable, hard, and impenetrable matrix that prevents the recuperation of the cocaine or its seeping into the ground. The regular method to destroy 10 tons of cocaine can take up to two weeks – while the same amount can be encapsulated safely within a day, UNODC reported.

After the training on the UNODC disposal guidelines, judges in Ecuador authorized encapsulation as a new, supplementary method of cocaine destruction in April 2022. In October, the method was successfully used to dispose of 32 tons of cocaine in Ecuador in a two-day session.

The UNODC Laboratory and Scientific Service provides aid to countries that are interested in the safe disposal of seized drugs and is currently collaborating with Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru with the help of the financial support of the United States Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

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