LA INDUSTRIA DE LA DROGA EN EL PERU
Enviado por Ximena460 • 18 de Junio de 2013 • 5.137 Palabras (21 Páginas) • 394 Visitas
The Drug InDusTry
In Peru
From sacreD Leaves1
To PoLITIcaL curse
Philip Reiser
The drug industry in Peru is dominated by cocaine. It has
deeply rooted itself into the country that is the second
largest producer of cocaine worldwide.2
Despite this fact,
drug trafficking remains hidden from public view and is
seen as a secondary problem. Society and politicians have
other priorities – combating poverty, civil commotions,
and the satisfaction of basic needs. Still, the presence of
the criminal drug industry is becoming more and more
apparent. One example are the bloody murders that have
been carried out in Lima over the past few years, mainly
by Mexican and Columbian cartels trying to secure their
supplies in Peru. The media registered 14 of such murders
between 2009 and 2010.3
There is repeated news about confiscation of large cocaine
shipments. The question remains how many such deliveries are not detected. The UN reckons in their World
Drug Report 2010 that Peru produced 302 tons of cocaine
in 2008, of which the Peruvian police confiscated about 16
tons, which amounts to about 5 per cent.4
The cultivation of
coca leaves has rapidly grown and thus also the production
of cocaine.5
The extent of the national production is
approaching that of Columbia, the country that produces
1 | Translation from the Spanish „hoja sacra‟, a term usually
used for the coca leaves.
2 | U.N. World Drug Report 2010, United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime, in: http://unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/
World_Drug_Report_2010_lo-res.pdf (accessed July 22, 2011).
3 | Cf. “Sicarios estuvieron activos en el último año,” El Comercio,
May 31, 2010.
4 | Cf. “Mapa del Narcotráfico en el Perú”, IDEI PUCP, 2009.
5 | Ibid.8 KAS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS 8|2011
after the confiscation of 700 kilos of
cocaine in the northern port of Paita in
2004, it was found that the drug dealers had been protected and supported by military officers.
most, with 450 tons per year.6
The increased efforts against
the drug industry in Columbia, concentrated on destroying
illegal coca plantations, have shifted demand to bordering
countries and in particular to Peru, where the fight against
coca plantations is still handled relatively superficially.
The institutions of the Peruvian state are also in danger
of falling in the hands of the drug industry. During the
1990s, the chief of Peru’s secret service (SIN), Vladimiro
Montesinos, built a far reaching network of corruption
under President Alberto Fujimori, partly financed with
drug money. Since then, evidence has been found that
Montesinos himself was active in drug trafficking, with the
assistance of high-ranking Peruvian military officials, and
even conducted business with the Columbian FARC.
Although Montesinos and Fujimori are in prison today, their
traces continue to be felt in Peruvian politics. Fujimori’s
daughter Keiko still leads the Fujimori-loyal
party “Fuerza 2011.” She lost the second
round of the presidential election by a slim
margin to Ollanta Humala in June. Corruption
in military circles also reappears repeatedly.
After the confiscation of 700 kilos of cocaine in the northern
port of Paita in 2004, it was found that the drug dealers
had been protected and supported by military officers in
moving the load to a ship headed for Mexico.7
The state’s institutions are alarmingly weak and easy to
infiltrate. The combination of growing drug production,
political uncertainty and mighty foreign cartels, could mean
an opportunity for the drug trade to weaken the state and
control it in its favour. The cases of Columbia during the
80s and 90s and Mexico today display similar patterns of
development in this direction.
But the experiences of these two countries also teach
important lessons. Whether Peru will escape this fate
depends on several factors. International cooperation will
be essential. The international community must not only
support the Peruvian state, but also apply pressure and
6
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