Peru is the world’s second-largest cocaine producer after Colombia. While the Shining Path guerrillas used drug proceeds to fortify their battle against the state, the group has grown weaker in recent years. Today, Peru’s criminal landscape features localized groups that maintain sophisticated cocaine trafficking networks to Europe, Asia and the United States. Domestic traffickers share territory with foreign drug trafficking organizations from Colombia and Mexico, and also have ties to transnational groups in Brazil and Italy.
Latest News
Shining Path on the Offensive in Peru, Again
A dozen people are dead in Peru since February amid escalating violence involving the Shining Path guerrilla group.
InSight Crime’s Cocaine Seizure Round-Up 2022
InSight Crime reviews Latin America and the Caribbean's cocaine seizure date from 2022 to find out what it reveals about regional trafficking.
Wildlife Protection Treaty Hits 50 Amid Challenges
As the CITES treaty hits 50, we take a look at its successes, failures, and future challenges in reducing the illicit trade of wildlife.
Peru Profile
Violence in Peru has been relatively low since the end of its civil conflict in the late 1990s. Although it remains the world’s top coca producer behind Colombia, illicit cultivations in the country are decreasing. Profits from drug trafficking and illegal logging have fueled a small resurgence of the Shining Path, a Maoist guerrilla group that no longer poses a major threat to the stability of the Peruvian state, but which continues to attack security forces and foreign companies in the remote Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro River Valley (VRAEM).
PERU PROFILEInvestigations
Chapters
News
InSight Crime's 2022 Homicide Round-Up covers more countries than ever before, with a major expansion into nations of the Caribbean.
Peru's largest seaport handles millions of tons of cargo annually, a fact that cocaine traffickers are using to their advantage.
The US is losing allies in Latin America just as production of cocaine, fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs is going through the roof.
Pedro Castillo, Peru's fallen maverick president, faces charges depressingly similar to four of his predecessors.
Peru is taking steps to tackle the threat of Venezuelan mega-gang Tren de Aragua, and have recently captured 30 members of the gang.
Lake Titicaca serves as a crossroads for varied criminal economies, from cocaine shipments to trafficking the frogs that live along its banks.

Other Countries
Support Our Work
Investigating organized crime is an expensive and often risky enterprise. Reaching primary sources and getting the real story involve extensive fieldwork. Please donate. Every dollar supports our mission.
DONATE NOW