The authority of the Brazilian government is being challenged in sparsely populated parts of the Amazon rainforest by gangs involved in the global drugs and arms trade. Although the Amazon was deemed a priority in the 2008 Brazilian National Defence Strategy, the army has been unable to stop trafficking through the region. Indeed, it has been handicapped by historical views of the dangers to Brazilian security, and seems only recently to have become aware of the true extent of the problem.
The northern and western areas of the Amazon are poor and underdeveloped, but vital for the country's energy needs. They are also now a key node in an international network of illegal trade in narcotics stretching from the highlands and forests of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia to consumer markets in Europe.
New rainforest drug routes
Regional and international trends during the last decade have accentuated the Amazon's importance within the global drug-trafficking network. The United States remains the largest consumer of cocaine, the main drug export of South American groups. However, the growth of addiction there has been reduced by anti-drug measures, while European use has doubled during the last decade. The 4.3-4.7 million European users of cocaine now account for about 30% of global consumption (compared to 37% in North America), and this shift has made the Atlantic Ocean more important for drug shipments. Both Brazil and West African countries now lie on strategic routes.
The Colombian government's successes in the fight against rebels of the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), including the elimination of insurgent leaders, have also forced fighters over to the Brazilian side of the border. The Brazilian army's introduction in 2002 of SIVAM, a system of air-space monitoring, curbed the use of planes by drug gangs and forced them to use land routes through the rainforest.
These changes in the narcotics market have been accompanied by an increase in sophistication by drug gangs in the region. Whereas FARC was, and probably remains, the most organised group in South America, powerful gangs in other countries are narrowing the gap. Cocaine production in Bolivia and Peru has grown, partly due to a transfer of know-how from former militia members fleeing Colombia.
The UN says that Peru is catching Colombia as the world's leading coca grower and could surpass it as the world's leading cocaine producer. Some 61,200 hectares of Peruvian land were used to farm coca in 2010, a 2% rise from the previous year. Meanwhile, the area used to cultivate coca in Colombia dropped 15% to 62,000ha. Cocaine production in Colombia dropped to 350 metric tonnes in 2010; 302 metric tonnes were produced in Peru when a figure was last available (in 2008). In the past decade, coca cultivation in Bolivia has grown by one-third to 30,900ha; 113 metric tonnes of cocaine were produced there in 2008.
Also in 2008, the first coca plantation was discovered in the Brazilian rainforest. This raised concerns that the cartels had genetically modified the plants for more humid conditions than those found in the Andean highlands.
Filtering down to the favelas
The growing role of Peru and Bolivia worries Brazil, since its territory stands between their producers and the prosperous trafficking network through West Africa to Europe. During a Brazilian congressional hearing this year, a chief investigator of the federal police said that up to 70% of cocaine arriving in Brazil came from Peru and Bolivia. Brazil is the main hub for processing and refining Peruvian and Bolivian cocaine, according to a recent RAND Corporation report. It has also become an export hub. Groups from both Andean countries work with drug gangs in the slums of large Brazilian cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In August 2008, police in Rio announced the discovery of the first cocaine refinery in Brazil, in the city's largest favela, Rocinha. It was capable of producing 250-500kg of cocaine a month.
