Colombia historically struggled to control the country’s supply and trafficking of drugs. Popularised by the Netflix series, the drug market and production boomed with comfort until America came to the forefront of the action and branded itself as fighting a war with drugs. With the help of the Columbian government, the trafficking of Cocaine in Columbia was suppressed. However, a new pink terror has taken over the youth, discos, and nightlife and has started to trend in Colombia. This drug is called ”Tucibi”/”Tuci”.

The original drug called Tucibi has been Latinised from the chemical name 2C-B, first synthesised by Alexander Shulgin in 1974 in California. A part of the 2C families of hallucinogenic phenethylamines affected both the euphoric M.D.M.A. and L.S.D.’s visual distortion. Mostly first abused in Europe’s rich discos eventually found their way into Medellin’sMedellin’s nightlife through wealthy youngsters. However, it wasn’t pink back then and was painful to use and expensive, unlike the Cocaine in Columbia that everyone used in the early 2000s.

The Columbian vendors then experimented with this ”expensive drug” by adding colouring dye to the drug. This made it more popular and friendly. Julián Andrés Quintero, an investigative sociologist at Social Technical Action, a Colombian drug policy N.G.O., told InSight Crime, “The food colouring [was important]: this is what gives it its colour and smell. [It became] an attractive substance,” however the drug’s supply remained niche. This led to vendors breaking and crushing every known drug like Fentanyl, M.D.M.A., Ecstasy, L.S.D. and Ketamine into the mixture as they were cheaper and more readily available. This is what is being sold on the street of Medellin today. Furthermore, currently, Colombia is the highest producer of this adulterated Tucibi, with exportations going to Europe with their biggest client being Germany.

Guaracha clubs are famous places in Medellin where many users are found using and inebriated with the drug. When locals and youngsters on the street asked about the drug, they replied that it is readily available and at every nightlife gathering they have gone to have been offered the drug. The narcotic cartels, like the Cocaine one before, are slowly rising by selling this drug. One, in particular, is called ”La Empresa” or ”The Enterprise”, which has safe houses connected by tunnels all over their turf to hide from the government’s eyes. These Safe houses and tunnels are staffed by multiple guards who protect and distribute the drugs driven away by the organisation’s distributors. A gram of Tucibi costs around $50-80. This is six times higher than Cocaine, with ”The Enterprise” reportedly around making around $ 30-50 million weekly.

It can be said without a doubt that Cocaine has been replaced and drugs are coming back, with Columbia possibly again having the problem of massive drug production polluting their country. With the number of adulterations in Tucibi, especially the use of Fentanyl ( 100 fold stronger than Heroin ), small doses over 34 grams are enough for overdosage, according to health professionals, with other effects and side effects which prolong after usage.