Emerald Mines. Colombia’s emerald production, the largest in the world, has proved impossible to regulate. The central province of Boyaca supplies about 60% of the global output and 80% of the top-quality stones. In 1996, legally traded emeralds earned Colombia only $180m. Traders put the real value of Colombia’s "green gold” at $1.5 billion a year. Thus, countless stones seem to disappear into the black market. © Luca Zanetti
Emerald Mines. In the early 90s, Colombia reached one of its many (fragile) peace agreements. In this case, the weak point turned out to be the lack of a disarmament clause. This allowed Boyaca (the emerald-producing region) to become one of the most heavily armed in all of Colombia. This led to the so-called "Green War," which devastated the area. © Luca Zanetti
Outside the mines, everybody is allowed to look for emeralds. Entire families spend time scratching the earth, hoping to find a stone. Professional miners have the right to give some earth to their families, who wash it and search for gems. Between 20% to 30% of the stones come from the "guaquero"—those people who search informally for the "green gold". © Luca Zanetti
Cargueros. Mr. Mosquera inherited the profession of his father: carrying ill women from the local doctor to the better-equipped city hospital in Quibdo. The journey will take eight hours on wet, rugged and steep terrain. Many of these "cargueros" suffer from chronic back pain; cases of umbilical hernias are not uncommon. Cargueros are said to be able to carry up to 90kg all day long. © Luca Zanetti
Piangueras. Mrs. Besaida, at the age of 65, goes daily to the mangroves for clam digging. On a good day, she manages to catch about 30 clams. This will net her about 3000 Colombian pesos—1.5 USD. © Luca Zanetti
The War on Drugs. This coca lab was used to process coca leaves into a paste. To make 1 kg of paste (value: 1000 USD), you need approximately one hectare of land. Coca can be harvested four times a year. The lab above has been set on fire by the Colombian Army's jungle battalion. © Luca Zanetti
Anti-narcotics police, during a raid on a coca base laboratory. At this stage of the cocaine production, the local farmers that own the fields remain involved. After the paste has been made, it will be sold to the narco traffickers. They will process it into 99.9 % pure cocaine. © Luca Zanetti
A mother and her child flee, fearing that the nearby coca laboratory may explode. The farmers use a mixed solution of alcohol, gasoline and kerosene to extract the cocaine from the coca leaves. Farmers in this area have little to no choice about harvesting this illegal crop. The soil is poor and the legal crops that would grow (pineapple, plantain) could not be grown profitably. Producing coca yields high return on investment and the product is picked up from the farmer's doorstep. © Luca Zanetti
Inspired by the Cuban revolution, a group of Colombians went to Havana to receive training in insurgent warfare. They returned to Colombia in 1964. Under the leadership of Fabio Vasquez Castano, they founded the National Liberation Army (ELN). Today, the ELN is the second biggest insurgency in Colombia, with an estimated 2,500 fighters. © Luca Zanetti
A forensic anthropologist seals the crime scene before beginning the exhumation process. The site above is a 2-hour walk from the nearest road. In it, the remains of Toro Quintero were found. Mrs. Quintero was brought in during the exhumation and thus immediately heard that no skull was found with her son's body. She was later told that her son's assassins were seen playing football with a head. © Luca Zanetti
At the entrance of the cemetery of San Luis stand the parents and family members of the slain Montoya brothers. The extended family has come to see how the remains will be exhumed. They will eventually be transported to a laboratory for more definitive identification using DNA testing. © Luca Zanetti
In Medellin, at the forensic laboratory of the Human Rights unit of the attorney general's office. The doctors analyze unearthed remains trying to assess the person's age, sex and race as well as how the person was killed. A dental chart is made for cross-referencing with the possible dentist of the victim. But as most people do not have dental charts and the remains are too old for finger-printing, there is only one way to have a 99% accurate test. A DNA test is performed and compared to the DNA of possible relatives. © Luca Zanetti
Once a year, indigenous Nasa people gather for "Sakhelu"—a sowing time ritual. © Luca Zanetti
The Baudó River and its tributaries are lifelines for the Embera and Afro-Colombian communities living here, along which plantain, timber and fish is traded. Since these waterways feed into the Pacific Ocean, they are also a much-coveted strategic corridor for drug traffickers. © Luca Zanetti
The Nukak Maku people have had a difficult recent history. Traditionally, they lived on a 1-million hectare territory, in the depths of a tropical forest, on the fringe of the Amazon basin. But since their first contact with outsiders in 1988, their population was devastated by malaria and flu. After that, the coca growers, left-wing guerrillas, right wing paramilitaries and the Colombian army have all occupied their lands at different points. The Nukak are expert monkey and bird hunters. The men hunt using blowguns. Their darts are coated with curare, a poison made from different plants. Nukak choose not to hunt several animal species, such as the the brocket deer and the tapirs. They consider these animals to originate from the same group of animals as human beings. © Luca Zanetti
The Nasa people hail from southern Colombia, specifically the Cauca and Valle regions. © Luca Zanetti
Semi-submersibles have become one of the most successful ways for traffickers to carry cocaine from Colombia to Mexico because they are wholly undetectable by radar. This one was successfully captured however. It had a length of 20 meters, engines capable of a velocity of 15 knots—and the capacity to carry 6 tons. © Luca Zanetti
The Colombian island of Santa Cruz del Islote is located on the Caribbean sea. The island is approximately 8,000 m². In the last census, there were 720 inhabitants living there. This gives the island a population density of 90,000 inhabitants per/km². This makes it one of the most densely populated islands on earth. On average, there are 7.4 people living in each house and island holds 97 houses in total. © Luca Zanetti
A makeshift camp near the town of El Penol in southern Colombia. The camp houses about 300 eradicators. © Luca Zanetti
Near the village of El Guayabo, a farmer blocks the entrance to a farm. The riot police are attempting to take it over in the name of its (supposed) former owner. The family that will be evicted has been living in the farm and working the land around it for over two decades. © Luca Zanetti