HomeNewsBrief'Shining Path Trafficking Drugs to Bolivia'
BRIEF

'Shining Path Trafficking Drugs to Bolivia'

1 MAY 2012 BY EDWARD FOX EN

Peru's Shining Path rebel group may be expanding their international drug trafficking operations, serving as suppliers to traffickers in neighboring Bolivia, according to one analyst.

The military commander of the last remaining faction of the Shining Path, Martin Quispe Palomino, alias "Comrade Gabriel," (pictured) is acting as a crucial link between narcotics suppliers in southern Peru and traffickers across the border in neighboring Bolivia, analyst Jaime Antezana told La Hora N.

Recent shows of strength by the guerrilla group, such as the kidnapping of 36 gas workers, were an attempt to assert the group's authority in the Apurimac and Ene River Valley (VRAE) and display their force to other drug traffickers, as well as to the Peruvian state, Antezana added.

Speaking in another interview with Peru 21, Antezana declared that the group, led by Victor Quispe Palomino, alias "Comrade Jose," can no longer be considered a ideologically driven force thanks to their association with drug trafficking. He said that clashes between security forces and the Shining Path are part of a "narco-war."

InSight Crime Analysis

The drug trade is probably the main revenue source for the VRAE-based group, which is thought to be the last remaining branch of the Shining Path, after the leader of a rival faction was captured in February. Antezana's claims that the group are involving themselves in transnational operations would mark an expansion from their role of taxing coca growers and protecting cocaine production facilities and shipments.

It is not the first time that reports have emerged of the Shining Path's links in Bolivia. In July last year, two alleged members of the rebel group were arrested in La Paz with 43 kilos of cocaine. In August, four activists handing out Maoist propaganda were detained in the capital, accused of recruiting for the Shining Path.

As well as being evidence of the group's links in Bolivia, the latter incident highlights the continued importance of political ideology to the group, despite the claims of the Peruvian government and analysts like Antezana that teh rebels are nothing more than "narco-terrorists."

Bolivia serves as a key transit point for narcotics travelling south from the Andes to Chile and Argentina, from where they are sent to Europe. The country lacks strong local drug trafficking groups. Colombian traffickers and Brazilian prison gangs are known to operate in Bolivia, yet they do not to date appear to have established a sophisticated network to gain complete dominance over the market. This could make it easier for the Shining Path to become players in Bolivia.

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

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…