LA INDUSTRIA DE LA DROGA EN EL PERU

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 | Cf. U.N. World Drug Report 2010, n. 2.

7 | Cf. Fernando Rospigliosi, “Narcotráfico, Cocaleros y Políticas

Estatales,” Manejo y Gestión de la Seguridad, Instituto de

Defensa Legal, 2004.8|2011 KAS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS 9

Today coca leaves are consumed as tea

or chewed directly, as a remedy against

altitude sickness, stomach illness and

fatigue. Its traditional use has never

been prohibited.

demand results. The anti-drug stipulations of the free

trade agreement with the United States represent a move

in the right direction, since they demand concrete results

in the fight against the drug industry from the Peruvian

state as a condition for liberalising trade.

The new government, led by Humala, will have to act

decisively, since under former president Alan García there

was little progress. According to information by the UN, the

cultivation of coca leaves increased by about 20 per cent

between 2006 and 2009, while the production of cocaine

increased by 10 per cent during the same period.8

Should

this tendency hold, then Peru will surpass Columbia in both

categories within the next five years, putting the country in

an increasingly dangerous position.

The coca-Farmers anD The sacreD LeaF

The leaves of the coca plant have been used

in Peru for thousands of years. Coca leaves

were found in graves of Inca rulers and

were considered holy due to their healing

properties. Today these leaves are consumed

as tea or chewed directly, as a remedy against altitude sickness, stomach illness and fatigue. The coca leaf is an

identity symbol of the Andean culture and its traditional

use has therefore never been prohibited. These have been

the arguments to keep coca cultivation legal.

With the discovery of cocaine, regulating the coca market

became a problem in order to avoid its illegal use. For

this purpose, the Peruvian state established the ENACO

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