HomeNewsBriefRecordings Implicate Ex-Congresswoman in Peru Drug Deals
BRIEF

Recordings Implicate Ex-Congresswoman in Peru Drug Deals

PERU / 1 AUG 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

An ex-congresswoman and coca activist accused of links to the Shining Path guerrillas in Peru has been caught on tape apparently discussing drug deals with an alleged trafficker.

Nancy Obregon, who sat in Congress from 2006 to 2011 and is part of the same political party as President Ollanta Humala, was arrested on terrorism and drug trafficking charges in July, along with eight other members of her family.

Peru's anti-drug police have now released incriminating recordings of Obregon and Omar Rafael Perris Garcia, who police believe to be an emissary of drug trafficking criminal clans in the Upper Huallaga Valley, reported El Comercio. In the tapes, the pair use shrouded language to discuss meetings, airplanes, landing strips, police movements and the export of "shapumba" -- a locally cultivated plant which has been grown in crop substitution programs in Peru.

Police also taped Obregon's son, Leonardo Chavez, using his mother's phone to discuss transport and prices for a "tonic of plaster" (una tonica de yeso) -- believed to be code for a ton of cocaine.

InSight Crime Analysis

Obregon is a major player among coca growers in the Upper Huallaga Valley -- one of the main coca growing regions in Peru -- and has been accused of assisting arrested Shining Path leader Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala, alias "Comrade Artemio."

SEE ALSO: InSight Crime's Shining Path profile

After Artemio's arrest, evidence gathered by police suggested the former congresswoman arranged for the rival Shining Path faction, which is mostly active in the VRAEM (Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro River Valley) region, to send fighters to the Upper Huallaga Valley to help coca growers halt eradication efforts.

Given Obregon's connections to coca growers and the Shining Path -- who are not drug traffickers themselves but charge taxes on drug shipments and act as regulators protecting farmers from criminal clans --, it is not surprising that she also appears to be more directly involved in the drug trade.

Obregon has yet to stand trial, but with the recordings backed up by testimonies from both Shining Path guerrillas and drug traffickers, according to prosecutors, the case does not look promising for the former congresswoman.

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

COCA / 17 MAY 2022

A government proposal for Peru to purchase all the country’s coca production has generated fierce debate, but experts question whether…

COCA / 11 JUN 2021

In arguably the most polarizing election Peru has seen in its history, voters have selected, by a razor-thin margin, a…

ECUADOR / 14 FEB 2022

Peru has convicted a gang of shark fin traffickers for the first time in history but more is needed to…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…