The Brief The U.S. placed Colombia on its list of countries failing to meet international drug enforcement obligations. Coca cultivation has tripled in Colombia over the past decade, reaching a record 253,000 hectares in 2023. Why Colombia is back on the US drug war blacklistThe backstory:The last time Washington decertified Colombia was in 1997, at the height of cartel power. The Trump administration on Monday added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in nearly 30 years. Drug seizures have also risen sharply, with Colombia intercepting 884 metric tons of cocaine last year.