The street value is the only value they could possibly quote with some accuracy, it is not as though Cocaine is a listed wholesale commodity. But I think if you discount by 50% or so you'll be pretty close which is still an immense amount of money for a single shipment. 14.5 Million TEU / year. How big a fraction of those are drug decoys?
> But I think if you discount by 50% or so you'll be pretty close
Look, a metric ton of sugar wholesale costs about $250. When you buy it in 1kg bags in supermarkets, with an extremely streamlined and risk free distribution chain, it already costs about four times that price. Imagine how much would the markup be if it were sold by the gram (typical purchase a few grams), by random people on the streets, with a huge personal risk and maybe even cut with other substances to add mass, after having passed through three or four intermediaries. The retail price is probably x1000 the price of the shipping container.
There is a bit of a difference between a KG of sugar which is sold 'as is' vs a kilogram of pure Cocaine which will never reach the end user in that state. So on a KG of sugar those costs are a large fraction, on a KG of coke they are a very small fraction. The markup is so large because the market is happy to bear it and the risk of getting caught goes up as more people are involved which will typically happen near the edge. Drug lords are rarely captured, their minions more frequently and street dealers more frequently still. The street price reflects that and simple economics: competition in drugs sales is fierce, fierce enough to kill for. If they could sell it for more they definitely would. Ironically, the better the authorities get at seizing shipments the higher the street price will be compensating the drug syndicates to some extent for their seized cargo.
> The retail price is probably x1000 the price of the shipping container.
