Cocaine Lockups: The Most Lucrative Drug Business in GTA Online
As an experienced player and content creator immersed for years in everything Grand Theft Auto Online, I‘ve extensively analyzed all major criminal money-making methods. For those focused purely on maximizing profits, the clear standout is the Cocaine Lockup business. When fully upgraded, its unrivaled combination of rapid production, high sale value, and additional session bonuses offers over $300,000 in revenue every 2 hours. This guide will cover why Cocaine overshadows other drug ops, as well as strategies to upgrade your lockup and efficiently run sell missions.
Why Cocaine Lockups Are So Profitable
Several key attributes make Cocaine the most efficient drug enterprise:
- Fastest Production: A fully upgraded lockup supplies 1 bar (~2 units) every 24 real-world minutes. A full supply bar processes in just 2 hours.
- Highest Base Value: Cocaine sells for $84,000 per unit (in a solo public lobby). Meth and Cash trail at $67,200 and $70,000 respectively.
- Bonus Payouts: Selling in a 25+ player session nets a 50% bonus, meaning Cocaine can earn up to $126,000 per unit.
- High Demand: Pound for pound, Cocaine sells for the most, making it extremely valuable.
Cocaine combines speed, high value, and bonuses to offer astounding profits. Exact payouts vary based on upgrades, salequantities, and sessions, but here‘s a breakdown:
| Product | Upgraded Sale (Solo) | Upgraded Sale (25+ Players) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Bar (2 units) | $168,000 | $252,000 |
| Full Stock (20 units) | $1,680,000 | $2,520,000 |
In addition to raw profits, fast production means more frequent sales, compounding viable playtime income.
Staff & Equipment Upgrades Drastically Improve Output
All drug businesses benefit tremendously from upgrades. For lockups, the Equipment upgrade doubles product output by supplying 2 bars instead of 1 per resupply.
The Staff upgrade quickens production speed by an astounding 60%. Fully upgrading slashes supply processing time from 5 hours to just 2!
| Upgrade Type | Effect |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Doubles Product per Resupply |
| Staff | 60% Faster Production Speed |
Both upgrades combined lead to 2.5x more saleable stock in drastically less downtime between sales.
Optimizing Sell Missions
Cocaine salaries look incredible on paper, but successfully completing risky sell runs is essential to realize those profits. Here are tips to smoothly operate sales:
- Solo Public Lobby: Eliminates other players who may destroy product.
- Oppressor MK2: Extremely mobile and defeats most NPC resistance.
- Plan Carefully: Check drop number, location risk, and use appropriate vehicles.
- Watch Competing MC Icon: Shows other player shipments to avoid.
With practice, Cocaine sell missions can be quite profitable. Certain trips however remain overly burdensome even for skilled pilots.
Avoid plane sell trips – slow, few drop locations make you an easy target. The OpMk2 can‘t adequately defend.
Combining Multiple Businesses for Maximum Revenue
While Cocaine Lockups dominate drug income, diversity helps generate wealth:
| Business | Base Profit (Upgraded, Solo) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cocaine Lockup | $300k hourly | Best for AFK Income |
| Bunker | $135k hourly | Great complementary passive business |
| Vehicle Warehouse | $80k per sale | Mix with active Import/Export Tasking |
| Special Cargo | $200k+ per sale | Variety bonuses, good active grinding |
With some AFK product generation, Bunkers paired with Cocaine build wealth quickly. Vehicle sales requiring personalized deliveries help break up the monotony of transportation runs. Import/Export mixed with Special Cargo trips build towards profitable quantity bonuses.
Balancing businesses allows for efficient around-the-clock income even when you can‘t actively play for hours at a time. The exact mix comes down to personal preference and playstyle, but folding in multiple ops builds tremendous wealth over time.
Is Cocaine Still Viable After Nerfs?
R* occasionally rebalances businesses, spurring questions if Cocaine retains top profitability. However, despite minor nerfs, it still outputs tremendous income:
- 12/2021: Reduced sale value by ~10%. Still higher base value than other drugs.
- 7/2022: Increased input supplies +50%. Minimal impact since purchases fully convert to product.
The July 2022 tunables unexpectedly buffed the spawn rate for free lobby resupplies. While they lengthen total production time, free supplies combined with faster output via upgrades neutralizes increased delivery frequency.
So while sales require slightly more missions, overall income remains extremely steady thanks to upgraded equipment speed. And as covered above, when combined with complementary passive businesses, dedicated grinding builds tremendous long-term wealth.
Final Takeaways
Through extensive analysis of all major criminal enterprises in GTA Online, Cocaine Lockups demonstrate unmatched profitability:
- Highest product value per unit to maximize sale revenue
- Fastest baseline production speed minimizes downtime
- Upgrade multipliers drastically increase efficiency
- Rewards for selling in populated sessions
Skillful distribution remains critical to actually collect full payouts, but the underlying fundamentals make Cocaine the definitive top drug business. Combined with other passive ops, GTA kingpins will quickly amass mountains of cash from optimized criminal workflow.
Hopefully these insights on dominating Los Santos‘ seedy production empire prove valuable! Please reach out with any other requests for meta-analysis on excelling in the sprawling world of GTA Online.
