Organised crime in Peru

Last updated

Organized crimes in Peru refers to the transnational, national, and local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals who engage in illegal activity in the country, including drug trafficking organizations, terrorism, and attempted murder.

Contents

Gangs

Flag of the Shining Path Flag of the Shining Path.svg
Flag of the Shining Path

Founded in 1969, Shining Path is a Peruvian revolutionary organisation that supports a Maoism ideology. [1] It is also known as Sendero Luminoso . [1] The revolutionary organisation's aim is to replace the political system of Peru, not to influence it. [2] The organisation provides protection to narcotics trade and makes use of their profits to strengthen their organisation and bring in more weaponry for security. [1] In 2008, former jailed members of Sendero Luminoso and other supporters of the Shining Path established an organisation, MOVADEF, following the aim of Abimael Guzman, the former leader of Shining Path. [3] MOVADEF continued to disseminate the ideology of their founder, Guzman, into remote villages in the Upper Huallaga Valley. [3]

Balarezo Gang is a group of Peruvian smugglers which gradually emerged in the 1940s as cocaine trade became illegal. [4] The gang consists of Balerzo and his six accomplices, who started exporting cocaine illegally in 1946. [4] Balerzo lived in New York, expanding his smuggling business and owned a mansion on Long Island. [4]

Barrio King, led by Gerson Gálvez Calle, is based in Callao and is known as Peru's largest drug ring. [5] The criminal organisation had control over shipping centers to facilitate drug trafficking and was responsible for the many deaths in Peru. [6]

Prominent Individuals

Activities

Drug Trafficking

Cocaine

Coca is an easy and profitable crop that farmers can grow with limited amounts of land. [8] Cocaine started in eastern Peru in 1948 to 1949, and has been rapidly expanding domestic cocaine production, making it the world's second largest cocaine producer, after Colombia. [8] Cocaine began as a major product for the Americans at the beginning of the Cold War, and the production of cocaine from Peru emerged during anti-communist regimes. [4] Throughout the late 1940s, the cocaine industry was legal with minimal production from run down factories, however, by 1950, cocaine was being smuggled out of eastern Peru, and cities in Peru such as Uchiza District, Tingo María and Pucallpa. [4] In 1949, Time nicknamed cocaine as "Peru's White Goddess." [4] Initially, coca was not the main problem for Peru; however, advancements in technology and science turned it into a drug, by processing coca into cocaine for various purposes, such as medicine or wine. [8] During the mid-1950s, cocaine export was pushed to La Paz, Bolivia. [4] By the 1970s, the lack of supervision over cocaine trade enabled the growth of criminal networks centered on its trafficking. [8]

With little police presence, Santa Rosa became an ideal route through which to smuggle cocaine to Brazil or Colombia. Weak state influence further allowed cocaine establishments to build coca fields, pits and labs. [3] Most cocaine labs were situated in the jungle between the Putumayo and the River Amazon, and Caballococha became a gathering location for drug traffickers and producers. [3]

Norco/Narco Trafficking

In 1986, the term "narco terrorism" was used in Peru as the relationship between drug traffickers and revolutionists. [9] Peru is becoming a narco-trader for four continents. [10] David Bazan Arevalo was investigated as an alleged member of a drug trafficking organisation. [10] He has been indicted for being a member of a criminal organisation that trafficked drugs from coca-producing valley of Alto Huallaga to Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s. [10]

Violence

Sexual assault

Peru is one of the many countries that followed the Marry-your-rapist law, which refers to as the exemption from punishment for a rapist by marrying their victims. [11] The case of Peruvian ex-soldiers 'systematically' raping nine female farmers between 1984 and 1995 during the Shining Path guerrilla war was presented to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2003, and the gang rape led to five of the women being pregnant. [11]

Terrorism

The absence of government authority meant that the officials were underestimating Sendero Luminoso. [2] Sendero Luminoso members communicate to the public through violent acts, such as going after essential power plants including water supplies or power grids. [2] Rather than gaining support from the general public, destroying supply systems acts as no more than messages and symbols. [2] The organisation was also initially involved in education at a university, in the training school department. [2] In 1975, Sendero Luminoso appealed to double the school budget but the request was denied. As a result of their request being denied, Sendero Luminoso turned towards vandalism. [2] In 1980, Sendero Luminoso declared war against the Peruvian government by burning ballot boxes that was going to be used in the first democratic election in Peru. [2] The Shining Path operating in the Huallaga River region since the 1980s was financed and supplied weapons by David Bazan Arevalo. [12] The criminal organisation took 71 hostages and attacked oil installations in Peru, as well as ambushing a police patrol and killing eight officials. [7] Arevalo was part of a 2007 terrorist attack that resulted in the murder of a public prosecutor and three police officers in Tocache, which is known as one of the most crime-plagued regions of Peru. [12]

Conservation criminology

Wildlife markets

The species diversity covers twenty times more land area, home to at least three endemic bird species and primate species in Andean forests. [13] Wild animals in Peru are used for various reasons, including biomedical research, jewellery, and souvenirs. [14] Pets are also products for sale involving live species such as parrots, monkeys, and tortoises found in Peru traded to Amazonas. [14] The wild parrot trade in Peru, such as the Macaw, is localised in inter cities or cross-border trading between two countries. [15] Parrots are poached because they are easy to capture and are abundant. [16] Abundant populations of bears and monkeys in Peru are also poached for biomedical research; around 4,000 primates were trafficked for malaria research into Colombia. [14]

The Ministry of Production, which is responsible for protecting endangered species have been caught illegally facilitating shark fin trade. [17] Peru has become the third largest exporter of shark fin in the world, where the majority of shark fins are trafficked to China, as there is a high demand for shark fins in Asian markets. [17]

Deforestation

Birds, amphibians, and ferns are examples of the biodiversity in eastern Peru which help constitute floristic assemblage. [18] Cocaine cultivation attributes to the deforestation, mainly in the Huallaga Valley, and therefore, large groups of plant species are threatened by deforestation, and remaining forests are likely to lose species diversity. [18]

Peru has one of the highest export of Swietenia macrophylla , driven by international demand. [19] Lists of trees that do not actually need to be cut down or do not exist are given to authorities provided by criminal organisations, resulting in illegal loggers a permit by the authorities. [20] Peruvian timber is exported to many countries, with the majority to countries such as China, the United States, Australia, Israel, and Puerto Rice, and involves tax evasion. [20] The main port for timber exports in Peru is Callao. [20] The Organismo de Supervision de los Recursos Forestales y de Fauna Silvestre was established as an anti-corruption organisation to prevent illegal deforestation activities in Peru, however, that has not stopped the act of illegal logging. [21] According to the Center for International Environmental Law, more than 90 percent of timber sold in Peru was illegally obtained. [20]

Efforts to Reduce Organized Crimes

Political decentralization

Armed forces and police in Peru cooperated together in capturing any Sendero Luminoso members and punished the captured criminal organisation followers with violence such as torture, execution or interrogations involving abuse. [2] Through interrogations, the police were able to investigate Sendero Luminoso better. [22] In 2001, the La Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación (CVR) was established to conduct analysis and studies of human violations by investigating assassinations, sexual violence, and torture of Peruvian civilians. [22] The project was able to collect more than 16,000 testimonies from victims and witnesses, and aired on radios and national television as an act to raise awareness about violence and human rights. [22]

The Peruvian government expanded their focus in Mantaro river in 2012, as the valley is known to be a trafficking route for cocaine and other drugs, to investigate the Shining plans to extend their control over narco-trafficking routes in La Convención. [7] In February 2012, the Peruvian government captured Artemio, the leader of a faction in Sendero Luminoso in the Upper Huallaga Valley, which led to the dismantling of the military and weaponry in Sendero Luminoso. [7]

The increase of drug usage in United States and Western Europe led to more drug production for Peruvian farmers selling at a higher price in the 1970s. [8] In the 1980s, the U.S drug policy towards Peru was used as a plan to prevent cocaine production for their people, which brought devastating results to the economy in Peru. [8] Under the pressure of the U.S drug policy, the Peruvian government proceeded towards the removal of cocaine production and focused on substituting the drug with other crops. [8] As drug production in Peru decreased, Peruvian farmers lost their jobs. [23]

On July 26, 2017, David Bazán Arévalo was arrested by Peru's counter-narcotics police. [23] Lima office of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Peruvian Counternarcotics Directorate (Dirreción Nacional Antidrogas- DIRANDRO) arrested David Bazan Arevalo, targeting drug traffickers who financed narco-terrorist groups. [23] The cocaine boom in the late 1990s came to an end when the Peruvian Air Force and DEA carried out tighter protection networks. [23]

Balarezo was arrested in 1949 while he was on a boat to Italy, and took less than a month to receive a five-year sentence and $10,000 fine. [4] 13 kilos of pure cocaine smuggled by Balarezo was found in New York, with $154,000 worth per kilo. [4]

Social initiatives

Artemio was arrested to counter terrorism, which enabled the state security forces to enter regions to take action against terrorism. [1] From 2005 to 2011, the Control y Reducción del Cultivo de la Coca en el Alto Huallaga was engaged in regional coca eradication campaigns. [3]

Armed civilians in Peru organise their own protection and security, such as the Comités de Autodefensa(CADS), which coordinated the community for self-defence. [4]

Community conservation of ecosystems and species by local people manage and enforce their own regulations, however, socio-political problems sometimes hinder creation of reserves for private land protection. [13] Full cooperation from the majority of the community conservation is needed to from community leaders, which is two-thirds of the whole congregation. [13] A two-year ban was promoted to restrict hunting of rodents such as the Agouti, and the use of slingshots toys by children was banned to recover bird and arboreal mammal populations. [13]

Local Peruvians in communal organisations have provided environmental education and have controlled and reduced land invasion, from threats of climate change and to promote a harmonious relationship with nature. [13] Loggers in Peru are required legitimate permit by the Organismo de Supervision de los Recursos Forestales y de Fauna Silvestre organisation if they wish to declare timber locations to cut down trees; however, the process is sometimes corrupt, involving compensation, and bribery. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shining Path</span> Communist terrorist group in Peru

The Shining Path, officially the Communist Party of Peru, is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path to distinguish it from other communist parties in Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal drug trade</span> Global black market

The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.

Narcoterrorism, in its original context, is understood to refer to the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation, and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence. As with most definitions of terrorism, it typically only refers to non-state actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medellín Cartel</span> Former Colombian drug cartel

The Medellín Cartel was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major "drug cartel" and was referred to as such due to the organization's upper echelons and overall power structure being built on a partnership between multiple Colombian traffickers operating alongside Escobar. Included were Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez, Juan David Ochoa Vásquez, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha and Carlos Lehder. Escobar’s main partner in the organization however was his cousin Gustavo Gaviria who helped coordinate various unprecedented acts of narcoterrorism with Pablo and was considered to be second in command of the cartel and therefore one of Colombia’s most wanted men both with arrest warrants pending from other nations as well, such as Spain and the U.S. Meanwhile, Pablo Escobar’s brother Roberto Escobar acted as the organization’s accountant. The cartel operated from approximately 1972 to 1993 in Colombia (Antioquia), Bolivia, Panama, Central America, Peru, the Bahamas, the United States, as well as in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narco-state</span> Political and economic term

Narco-state is a political and economic term applied to countries where all legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power and wealth of the illegal drug trade. The term was first used to describe Bolivia following the 1980 coup of Luis García Meza which was seen to be primarily financed with the help of narcotics traffickers. Other well-known examples are Honduras, Guinea-Bissau, Mexico, Myanmar and Syria, where drug cartels produce, ship and sell drugs such as captagon, cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

A drug policy is the policy regarding the control and regulation of psychoactive substances, particularly those that are addictive or cause physical and mental dependence. While drug policies are generally implemented by governments, entities at all levels may have specific policies related to drugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal drug trade in Colombia</span> Colombian sale and distribution of illegal narcotics

The illegal drug trade in Colombia has, since the 1970s, centered successively on four major drug trafficking cartels: Medellín, Cali, Norte del Valle, and North Coast, as well as several bandas criminales, or BACRIMs. The trade eventually created a new social class and influenced several aspects of Colombian culture, economics, and politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narco-submarine</span> Submersible used by drug smugglers

A narco-submarine is a type of custom ocean-going self-propelled semi-submersible or fully-submersible vessel built for smugglers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umberto Ammaturo</span> Italian criminal

Umberto Ammaturo, also known as 'o pazzo, is a former Italian criminal and a member of the Neapolitan Camorra, a Mafia-type organisation in Italy. He specialized in cocaine trafficking from South America. He was included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture in May 1993. A month later he decided to become a pentito, a state witness breaking omertà, or code of silence.

A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a type of crime boss, who is in charge of a drug-trafficking network, organization, or enterprise.

The depiction of Colombia in popular culture, especially the portrayal of Colombian people in film and fiction, has been asserted by Colombian organizations and government to be largely negative and has raised concerns that it reinforces, or even engenders, societal prejudice and discrimination due to association with narco-trafficking, terrorism, illegal immigration and other criminal elements, poverty and welfare. The Colombian government-funded Colombia is Passion advertisement campaign as an attempt to improve Colombia's image abroad, with mixed results hoping for more positive views on Colombia.

The illegal drug trade in Haiti involves trans-shipment of cocaine and marijuana to the United States. It is a major shipment route. The island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic places Haiti in an ideal location for drug smuggling between Colombia and Puerto Rico. Because Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States, shipments are generally not subject to further U.S. Customs inspection after reaching the territory. Cocaine is also often smuggled directly to Miami in freighters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal drug trade in Latin America</span>

The illegal drug trade in Latin America concerns primarily the production and sale of cocaine and cannabis, including the export of these banned substances to the United States and Europe. The coca cultivation is concentrated in the Andes of South America, particularly in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia; this is the world's only source region for coca.

Galician clans are the drug smuggling groups in the Spanish region of Galicia. Due to the activities of these clans, Galicia is often cited as being the main European entry point for Colombian cocaine.

La Corporación, also known as the Santa Ana Cartel, was a Bolivian drug cartel and criminal organization, headed in the 1970s and 1980s by notorious drug lord Roberto Suárez Goméz, known as the "King of Cocaine".

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the drug trade in West Africa rapidly expanded amid dramatic increases in US and European demand for cocaine, cannabis, and other drugs. This resulted in the expansion of two distinct trade routes, both of which went through West Africa. One route exported domestically produced cannabis from West Africa to South Africa, Europe, and Asia. The other trade route moved cocaine from Latin America and heroin from Afghanistan and Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States. In both of these routes, drug traffickers took advantage of trading networks created by Malian and Berber traders in colonial times to move drugs through the region, as well as West Africa's broader geographical location as an intermediate stop from Latin America and Southwest Asia to Europe and the United States. This was due in part to West Africa's badly policed borders, endemic corruption, and economic inequalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organised crime in Colombia</span>

Organised crime in Colombia refers to the activities of various groups of drug cartels, guerilla groups, organised crime syndicates or underworld activities including drug trafficking, contract killing, racketeering and other crimes in Colombia. Colombia has seen the rise and fall of drug empires, crime syndicates and organised guerrilla groups, all of which having contributed to the varying forms of organised crimes having occurred in Colombia.

Maritime drug trafficking in Latin America is the primary mean of transportation of illegal drugs produced in this region to global consumer markets. Cocaine is the primary illegal drug smuggled through maritime routes because all of its cultivation and production is settled in the Andean region of South America.

Maritime cocaine smuggling refers to the practice which involves the smuggling of cocaine between borders via maritime means. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), there are an estimated 18 million users of cocaine globally. Approximately 70-80% of cocaine is at some point smuggled across the ocean, originating from South America. Cocaine remains the "highest value criminal commodity for transnational organised crime", motivating the criminal organisations responsible for maritime smuggling practices. Maritime cocaine smuggling is therefore an ongoing international issue, as criminal organisations are finding new and innovative ways of smuggling cocaine and go undetected by authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Militarized Communist Party of Peru</span> Communist organization labeled as a terrorist group in Peru

The Militarized Communist Party of Peru is a political party and militant group in Peru that follows Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and participates in the communist insurgency in Peru. It is considered a terrorist organization by the government of Peru. The MPCP operates primarily in the VRAEM area and is involved in the area's coca production. Comrade José has been the leader of the MPCP since its official creation in 2018 after its final split from the declining Shining Path guerilla group.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Parkinson, Charles (2017-03-27). "Drug Trafficking, Terrorism, and Civilian Self-Defense in Peru". InSight Crime. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Barnhurst, Kevin G. (1991-12-01). "Contemporary Terrorism in Peru: Sendero Luminous and the Media". Journal of Communication. 41 (4): 75–89. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1991.tb02332.x. ISSN   0021-9916.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Dun, Mirella Van (August 2016). "Cocaine Flows and the State in Peru's Amazonian Borderlands". Journal of Latin American Studies. 48 (3): 509–535. doi: 10.1017/S0022216X16000390 . ISSN   0022-216X.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gootenberg, Paul (October 2007). "The "Pre-Colombian" Era of Drug Trafficking in the Americas: Cocaine, 1945-1965". The Americas. 64 (2): 133–176. doi:10.1353/tam.2007.0148. ISSN   0003-1615. S2CID   143848651.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Janowitz, Nathaniel (2016-05-02). "Colombian Police Have Tracked Down 'The Snail', Peru's Most-Wanted Drug Trafficker". Vice News. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  6. 1 2 LaSusa, Mike (2017-03-27). "Top Peru Crime Boss Captured in Colombia". InSight Crime. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Mullins, Sam; Wither, James K.; Monaco, Steven R. (2016), "Terrorism and Crime", Combating Transnational Terrorism, Procon, pp. 67–84, doi:10.11610/ctt.ch05, ISBN   9789549252187
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Drug trafficking, organized crime, and violence in the Americas today. Bagley, Bruce Michael,, Rosen, Jonathan D. Gainesville. 2015. pp. 223–238. ISBN   9780813055336. OCLC   907689578.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ Lupsha, Peter A. (1989-01-01). "Towards an Etiology of Drug Trafficking and Insurgent Relations: The Phenomenon of Narco-Terrorism". International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice. 13 (2): 61–75. doi:10.1080/01924036.1989.9688918. ISSN   0192-4036.
  10. 1 2 3 "Alleged drug price fixing investigated in Germany". PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News. 441 (1): 11. December 2003. doi:10.1007/bf03277142. ISSN   1173-5503. S2CID   195270582.
  11. 1 2 "Peruvian ex-soldiers accused of 'systematic' rape". France 24. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  12. 1 2 Albaladejo, Angelika (2017-08-04). "Peru Mayor's Arrest Reveals Ties to Drug Trafficking and Terrorism". InSight Crime. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Shanee, N (2012-12-20). "Trends in local wildlife hunting, trade and control in the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot, northeastern Peru". Endangered Species Research. 19 (2): 177–186. doi: 10.3354/esr00469 . ISSN   1863-5407.
  14. 1 2 3 Leberatto, Antony C. (March 2016). "Understanding the illegal trade of live wildlife species in Peru". Trends in Organized Crime. 19 (1): 42–66. doi:10.1007/s12117-015-9262-z. ISSN   1084-4791. S2CID   146443977.
  15. ↑ Reuter, Peter; O’Regan, Davin (2017-04-03). "Smuggling wildlife in the Americas: scale, methods, and links to other organised crimes". Global Crime. 18 (2): 77–99. doi:10.1080/17440572.2016.1179633. ISSN   1744-0572. S2CID   148289739.
  16. ↑ Pires, Stephen F.; Moreto, William D. (2011-06-01). "Preventing Wildlife Crimes: Solutions That Can Overcome the 'Tragedy of the Commons'". European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. 17 (2): 101–123. doi:10.1007/s10610-011-9141-3. ISSN   1572-9869. S2CID   144855203.
  17. 1 2 Robbins, Seth (2019-04-23). "Peru Wildlife Agency Eases Export of Illegal Shark Fins". InSight Crime. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  18. 1 2 Young, Kenneth R. (March 1996). "Threats to biological diversity caused by coca /cocaine deforestation in Peru". Environmental Conservation. 23 (1): 7–15. doi:10.1017/S0376892900038200. ISSN   0376-8929. S2CID   85925484.
  19. ↑ Ness, Erik (May 2005). "Peru and the G8 Soft on Illegal Logging". Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 3 (4): 184. doi:10.2307/3868459. JSTOR   3868459.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Press, Latinamerica (2018-05-21). "Illegal Logging: An Organized Crime That Is Destroying Latin American Forests". Eurasia Review. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  21. ↑ Holmes, Harry. "Peru Failing to Combat Illegal Logging in Amazon Claims Report". www.occrp.org. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  22. 1 2 3 Leiby, Michele L. (June 2009). "Wartime Sexual Violence in Guatemala and Peru". International Studies Quarterly. 53 (2): 445–468. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2478.2009.00541.x.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Drug trafficking, organized crime, and violence in the Americas today. 2016-05-01. pp. 223–228.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.