Fighting drug trafficking: cross-border military cooperation between Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia

(To Maria Grazia Labellarte)
08/11/16

The consumption of cocaine in South America is constantly increasing and provides organized crime groups with a constantly growing market. According to a United Nations report, the number of consumers in the Latin American area has doubled in recent years, a figure confirmed in Europe, but which is contradicted by the decline in the United States. 

Producer and supplier area, South America is witness to a growth of the local market, also thanks to the logistic alternatives offered, less expensive than the foreign market.  

Currently, one of the largest domestic suppliers is Bolivia. Country producer of local cocaine and distributor of the one purchased by Peru, Bolivia essentially supplies Brazilian criminal organizations as First command from Capital - PCC e Red Command. In fact, Brazil is the leading country in the consumer area of ​​cocaine and its derivatives, such as il basuco, waste product from coca refining.  

It is important to underline, however, that throughout the Latin American area the fight against drug trafficking is constantly evolving and is developing well, while at the same time trying to move towards cross-border cooperation between the various military authorities and investigative forces.

Let us remember in this last year for example, theOperation Quijarro, (note for the important legal battle against  Whatsapp: the manager of the application, on that occasion, refused to release the conversations among the traffickers): the cross-border initiative saw several officials from Brazil, Peru and Bolivia signed an agreement for the creation of an intelligence center of trilateral police specializing in the fight against drug trafficking.

Another practical example of combating trafficking provided to us in 2016 is that of the joint operation of the armies of Brazil, Peru and Colombia held in the common border region with the Amazon. The aim was to improve the cooperation capacity of the military forces in the fight against drug trafficking and criminal groups, particularly engaged in illegal mining.

The operation resulted in the widest deployment of soldiers from the Amazon River carried out by ACM (Military Command of the Amazon), one of the Brazilian territorial commands. Including the States of Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia e Roraima, involves the twelfth military region, based in Manaus in the Amazon. The Command has in its organizational structure the best units recognized for combat in the jungle, made up of Indians from the Amazon region and soldiers from other areas but with similar experience; the Jungle War Center, specialized in personnel training, is also subordinate to it.

In 2016, the joint operation involved approximately 1.426 men in an area 1.150 kilometers long and 1.082 kilometers wide, who marched in the interior of Brazil between the states of Amazonas and Acre. One of the main objectives of the mission was to try to reduce the destruction of the environment, caused by the clandestine mining of gold and other minerals, financed by transnational criminal groups. The CMA, on the Brazilian front it would have deployed three brigades, three battalions joined to special forces. Colombia and Peru have improved the exchange of information and coordination between neighboring units.

(photo: Centro de Instrução de Guerra na Selva)