Tabacal is a province of Bolivia, with Bella Selva serving as its capital. The province is situated among the Yungas mountains and a dense jungle, and the mountains are home to narrow, steep and dangerous roads like the Death Road. The province was focused on coca and coffee culture, with fields occupying the bottom of valleys or the clearings carved in the jungle. During the Bolivian Drug War, the Mexican Santa Blanca Cartel took control of the cocaine industry, forced coffee growers to switch to growing coca, and handed control of the drug trade to Madre Coca. Families who fled to La Paz had their farms burned by the cartel. In 2019, American special forces partnered with Kataris 26 rebels to liberate the province from the cartel.
Advertisement