A new report by Amazon Watch has warned that drug trafficking is rapidly advancing across the Peruvian Amazon, exposing Indigenous communities to violence, dispossession and systemic neglect. The report, titled Narcotráfico, highlighted how criminal economies were taking root across the region, laying bare the institutional fragility of the Peruvian state.
At least 274 Indigenous communities and four Indigenous reserves are now directly affected by the illicit coca-cocaine trade, according to the findings. This crisis did not emerge in isolation but rather follows a long legacy of extractive exploitation in the Amazon driven by external market demand, from rubber to oil and now cocaine, researchers noted.
The study outlined how drug trafficking groups were exploiting weak land rights protections, often using fraudulent contracts, forced invasions and violence to take over Indigenous territories. In many areas, clandestine airstrips and illicit coca crops had transformed once-remote communities into key nodes in international drug corridors.
More than 717 Indigenous communities lacked formal land titles, the report found, leaving them particularly vulnerable to land grabs and criminal encroachment. Drug trafficking has significantly advanced in Indigenous areas where trafficking routes have been consolidated, the authors warned, adding that urgent land titling must become a state priority.
The report documented 27 murders of Indigenous leaders as of January 2025, underscoring the high levels of violence and impunity associated with drug-related territorial conflict. Community leaders have faced threats, criminalisation and assassination for resisting illegal activities or defending ancestral lands.
Despite the severity of the crisis, the Peruvian government’s response has remained inadequate. The study criticised the reliance on prolonged states of emergency, such as those imposed for decades in regions like the VRAEM (Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro), which have failed to dismantle illicit economies or protect vulnerable populations.
Amazon Watch accused national authorities of promoting ineffective and bombastic development plans while neglecting intercultural approaches that could safeguard Indigenous rights.
None of the policies, plans, strategies and projects have resolved the fundamental demands of the Indigenous population regarding their territory, the report stated.
The organisation called for a major shift in public policy: one that centres Indigenous peoples not only as victims but as political actors who must be empowered to shape solutions. It urged the government to secure land tenure, dismantle illicit infrastructure and protect community leaders, warning that failure to act could lead to the irreversible destruction of both Indigenous cultures and the Amazon rainforest.
The full report is currently available in Spanish.