Cultivation expanded substantially in the 1980s into the Chapare region of Cochabamba and some production flowed into the international cocaine market.
Ignacio Flores, the Spanish governor of Mojos proposed opening a road from Cochabamba to Mojos via the Chapare in 1780.
Its cultivation was prohibited by Bolivian law, except in the region of Yungas despite its affinity to the climate and land of the Chapare region.