HomeNewsBriefPeru's Coca Hub is a 'Time Bomb': Drug Policy Specialist
BRIEF

Peru's Coca Hub is a 'Time Bomb': Drug Policy Specialist

DRUG POLICY / 23 JUN 2016 BY MIMI YAGOUB EN

Security specialist Rubén Vargas called Peru's biggest coca hub a "time bomb" while discussing the failings of the outgoing administration's anti-drug policies and outlining the challenges ahead for the incoming government.

In an interview with Peruvian magazine Caretas, Vargas said he believes that the administration of current President Ollanta Humala "abandoned" the country's main coca growing region -- the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro River Valleys (VRAEM) -- which he described as a "time bomb." 

But Vargas, who helped shape the drug interdiction policies of Peru's President-elect, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, was not entirely critical of how Humala has combated drug trafficking.

SEE ALSO:  Coverage of Security Policy

Today, the VRAEM's military infrastructure is the best in the country, with 8,500 military troops and 1,500 police officers and $2.43 billion worth of investment, Vargas noted. He also recognized that the government has been successful in clearing the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) guerrilla group out of the Upper Huallaga Valley, formerly one of Peru's top coca-producing regions.

Yet according to Vargas, drug trafficking in the VRAEM has grown stronger. Authorities seize only 2 percent of all cocaine produced in the VRAEM, a region that accounts for over 70 percent of the 450 metric tons of cocaine exported by Peru per year, according to the specialist.

The Humala administration erroneously chose a military strategy to combat "terrorism" in the VRAEM, Vargas said.

The problems with the military strategy stem from the corruption and apathy of authorities, Vargas added, noting that traffickers have used army helicopters to fly cocaine to the coast.

Vargas explained that the hierarchical structure of the drug trafficking groups of the 1990s has been replaced by a fragmented system in which small organizations control different stages of the process and battle for control, causing violence levels to rise.

InSight Crime Analysis

The Humala administration's drug policies have indeed produced mixed results since he took office in 2011. Coca eradication has been reaching record levels year upon year, and cultivation decreased 31 percent from 62,500 hectares in 2011 to 42,900 in 2014, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) figures

During this time, the Upper Huallaga Valley has been quite the success story. While the government focused on eradication, coca crop substitution and development projects in the region, as Vargas explained, coca hectares fell from 12,421 in 2011 to a mere 1,555 in 2014.

The same cannot be said for the VRAEM region, which became the Shining Path's main bastion after it was forced out of the Huallaga Valley in 2012. Drug policy in the VRAEM has been a dilemma for the Humala government, and it has changed course numerous times regarding eradication. Largely due to the Shining Path threat, authorities are unable to effectively eradicate coca fields, and crop substitution programs have proven difficult to implement.

SEE ALSO:  Shining Path News and Profile

Efforts by Kuczynski's administration to make a bigger dent in coca cultivation in the VRAEM will take time to show results. The president-elect looks set to carry on with Humala's tough eradication measures, with aims to reduce coca cultivation to 25,000 hectares by 2021, as well as bolster crop substitution efforts and guarantee state presence in the VRAEM (pdf). But it's not clear how he plans to achieve those goals without taking on the Shining Path first. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARGENTINA / 12 SEP 2022

Synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, fentanyl, and ecstasy are reshaping Latin America's drug trade.

CHILE / 16 SEP 2022

Chile has recently seized several new psychoactive substances (NPS), highlighting the growing diversity of its drug markets.

COLOMBIA / 2 MAY 2023

Colombia's security policy has made clear the country's intention to tackle the ELN. But to do so, it's relying on…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.