The Caribbean town of Taganga has become a reference of how Colombia should not develop its tourism potential. The situation in the once peaceful fishing village of 3, has become so bad that disturbing reports of child exploitation and human trafficking are now emerging. The town hit national headlines after a former Israeli soldier and local hotelier was expelled from the country for allegedly providing drugs and prostitutes to travelers.
Since then, local and regional authorities are trying to retake control over the village that could be a tourism hotspot if it is able to regulate drug use and prostitution. Before Taganga became flooded with backpackers, it was a quiet fishing village originally inhabited by the indigenous Tairona people.
Marijuana fumigation near Taganga in the s Image: Mamacoca. After a road was built connecting it with civilization, Taganga slowly became popular with hippies and drug traffickers as the Sierra Nevada mountain range near Taganga provided the ideal conditions for growing the plant. Drug smuggling became rife after Americans pot-smugglers and Colombian associates created the first drug trafficking routes between Colombia and the United States, initially to smuggle marijuana and later cocaine.
Police during a cleansing operation in Taganga Image: Radio Magdalena. Taganga then started to become gradually more populated and developed, bringing business β and travelers β to its shores.
But then tourism started to take its toll on the place β in part because of the poor infrastructure and chronic neglect by the local and regional governments. There must be a huge strain on each place in Taganga given this situation. Though poor infrastructure is not the only problem Taganga has faced β delinquent backpackers have brought their fair share of troubles as well.
