They use seized cocaine to make concrete due to the lack of space to store it

In Ecuador, the level of drug seizures has grown exponentially. According to official figures, during the last two years, more than 400 tons of cocaine were seized, which has led to a lack of places to store it. As a result of this problem, the authorities They created a solution: turn drugs into concrete.

According to the latest World Drug Report, prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ecuador has become the third country in the world with the most drugs seized.

In order to use the drug as concrete, The cocaine arrives at a waste treatment plant and goes through a crushing process. Later, it is mixed with expired drugs, garbage, glass, medical waste and oil.

After passing through a pulverizing machine, the material is mixed with cement, sand, and water to produce concrete. Later, after the setting and decantation of the crushed material, cocaine becomes an impenetrable matter, Therefore, it cannot be recovered as a drug, according to reports by CNN en Español and Deutsche Welle (DW).

According to the authorities, this method is much more effective than incineration, as it is four times faster. Besides, this technique, also known as “encapsulation”, has the approval of the UNODCthe specialized agency in narcotics of the UN.

So far, the Ecuadorian authorities are satisfied with the outcome of the process. “That is the virtue of Ecuador at this moment,” he told DW Edmundo Mera, Ecuador’s undersecretary for drug control.

The technicians of the plant set up on the outskirts of Quito have already processed more than 350 tons of the drug, which has become an essential input for the process. Concrete, of course, is intended for construction and paving.