Criminal networks merge illegal mining and drug trade in Peru's Amazon

A new report warns that narcotrafficking, illegal mining and land trafficking have consolidated into a single criminal network in the Peruvian Amazon. In 2024, more than 12,000 hectares of coca were cultivated across 252 indigenous communities, a 147% increase since 2018. The illicit drug trade finances illegal mining operations, while gold extraction is used to launder drug money.

The networks have entrenched themselves in strategic zones such as the Ucayali‑Huánuco axis, the Cordillera del Cóndor, the Triple Frontier and Madre de Dios. Transnational groups—including dissident factions of the FARC, Brazil's Comando Vermelho and the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC)—are active in the area. Recent legislative reforms, according to the report, have weakened state capacity to combat these threats.

Indigenous organizations, notably the Guardia Kakataibo, the Guardia Shipibo in Ucayali and the Sistema de Seguridad Indígena Amazónica in Junín, constitute the primary resistance to the expanding criminal presence, despite operating with limited resources.