The most obvious mission of any operational State is the control of its territory. However, the latest report from the El Comercio Investigation Unit, published yesterday, which indicates that drug trafficking mafias have more than 750 clandestine clues in Peru, suggests that this basic function is being failed. According to intelligence reports from the Ministry of Defense, these illegal spaces – which receive aircraft without authorization from the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) – proliferate in places where cocaine and illegal gold are produced.
The passivity of the State has also allowed activity to expand. If a little more than two years ago there were 632 slopes, today there are 755 in 13 of the 25 regions of the country. The international destinations of the illicit cargo would be Bolivia and Brazil. Only in the Vraem (valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro rivers), the main center of coca production in Peru, 259 landing strips are identified. According to published information, criminals can restore a disabled track in a matter of hours or days. The ease with which they advance is just as worrying as the extent they have achieved.
In addition to the obvious economic and security problems that these advances imply, there is a relevant environmental dimension. More than 200 operations are carried out in buffer zones and protected natural areas, such as El Manu National Park and Bahuaja Sonene National Park, in Tambopata. From an aerial view, the clandestine runways look like grooves, or scars, in the middle of the virgin jungle. Gold mining in these areas, it is known, has serious and permanent consequences on the most fragile ecosystems on the planet, in addition to bringing endless harm to nearby communities.
In August of this year, we published another report on the unstoppable march of mining dredges in the channels of 13 rivers since 2025, especially the Nanay. And at the end of October we reported information from the RAMI (Radar Mining Monitoring) platform regarding the losses of forest cover in Tambopata. The examples continue, and they are all part of the same story: the loss of territorial sovereignty in the face of organized crime in areas that should be specially protected. Judging by the evidence, not only is progress not being made in this war: it is being lost.
