Study led by CNJ shows that indigenous lands in Acre are used as routes for Peruvian drug trafficking and indigenous people are threatened

A study, recently published by the National Council of Justice, Association of Brazilian Magistrates (AMB), AMB Center for Judicial Research, Brazilian Association of Jurimetry (ABJ) and the United Nations Development Program (PNUD), points out that lands indigenous people of Acre are used as routes by Peruvian drug traffickers.

People linked to the Federal Police, the Court of Justice of Acre, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and civil society were interviewed in the research. In one of the reports present in the study, the use of indigenous lands by drug traffickers to access Brazilian territory is highlighted, putting the lives of these populations at risk. The interviewee mentions that “narcomadeiros” today are the main threat.

“These routes that are used by drug traffickers, who are these mule men who transport drugs, they use the paths of isolated people in the forest. […] So, we know that drug trafficking, combined with exploitation and illegal timber activity, is the main threat to isolated peoples and indigenous peoples in general, […] because Acre’s border with Peru is basically indigenous lands and a conservation unit. So, these routes inevitably pass through indigenous territories and environmental conservation areas”, said one of those interviewed by the researchers.

The researchers mention that “an interviewee from Acre also mentioned that this entry of factions in the northern region of the country related to environmental crimes is something new. He also comments that, currently, there is co-option of indigenous people – often used as “mules” – to allow traffic in strategic areas for trafficking. There are even, according to the interviewee, the so-called “narcomadeiros”, who work in drug trafficking linked to the exploitation of illegal timber activities in the border region”.

One of the interviewees, a member of the Federal Police, revealed to the researchers that there is no record of gold mining or illegal mining, which makes the modus operandi of the factions in Acre different compared to other states in the Legal Amazon.

“I would say that in the State of Acre… it is a State that, in a way, has a slightly different theme from the other States in the Amazon, because there is no mining in Acre. There is no record of mining. The Federal Police have not yet found any records of gold mining. I’m not saying there’s no mineral extraction, and yes there is. We have sand extraction, clay extraction, some illegal practices. However, I can say that the Federal Police have never identified mining areas in the State to date.”