Organized crime in the Amazon region

Reports indicate that organized crime and armed groups operate in approximately 59% of the 1,310 municipalities surveyed across six Amazonian nations: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Colombia and Venezuela show the highest levels of impact, with 98% and 82% of municipalities affected, respectively.

A significant economic shift has occurred as illegal mining, particularly for gold, has surpassed cocaine trafficking as the most lucrative criminal industry in the region. Criminal factions are also exploiting minerals such as tin, tungsten, and coltan in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. These activities are linked to illegal logging, land grabbing, and cattle ranching, with the latter often used to launder illicit funds.

The expansion of these networks has accelerated environmental destruction, including deforestation and mercury contamination of soil and rivers. Criminal organizations are becoming increasingly interconnected across borders, such as Brazil’s Comando Vermelho expanding into Bolivia and Peru. Local and Indigenous communities face escalating violence, extortion, and the use of human shields by groups seeking to protect illicit economies and obstruct state actions. Current militarized repression strategies have been noted as failing to address the underlying economic and social drivers of these activities.