San Pedro Prison - Income

Income

There are several sources of income for the prisoners and those who run the establishment. Embol, the Bolivian brewery who own the exclusivity rights to produce Coca-Cola in Bolivia, have a deal whereby their products are advertised and sold inside the prison and rival brands are banned. In return they provide cash, tables, chairs, and umbrellas for the grounds. Most prisoners have jobs such as messengers, hairdressers, and shopkeepers, with many profiting from the tourist trade. Many inside the prison work as tour guides or sell handmade crafts to the visitors, and tourism provides many of them with a source of income. There is also a gambling trade, with betting on the inter-section football matches being worth up to US$20,000 a year. Players are also sometimes bought and sold between teams.

Cocaine is produced inside the compound with large laboratories producing a significant amount of the drug while other inmates utilise crude processing systems in their own cells. Consequently the amount of drug use and addiction around the prison is very high. The cocaine is then trafficked outside, meaning that the prison is a large supplier of the drug. Alcohol is also widely available and its sale is an important source of income for some of those inside the prison.