Inside the NJ Plant Where Coke Makes Billions in Cocaine

A chemical processing plant in Maywood, New Jersey, has an exclusive license to import coca leaves into the US on behalf of The Coca-Cola Company and manufactures as much as $2 billion of pure cocaine every year. The leaves are used to produce a 'decocainized' ingredient for the iconic soda and the cocaine byproduct is sold to the nation's largest opioid manufacturer, which markets the powder as a numbing agent and topical anesthetic for dentists. The plant is operated by a chemical manufacturer called Stepan Company, which operates under special licenses issued to it by the DEA and is the only company in the US permitted to import coca leaves and manufacture cocaine.