Peru Prepares Major Offensive Against Shining Path In VRAE – Report

President Ollanta Humala’s government is preparing a large-scale offensive against remnants of the Shining Path insurgency in the isolated coca-growing Apurimac and Ene river valleys, or VRAE, daily El Comercio reported, citing Reuters. The report said the offensive is the biggest in almost two decades, and seeks to deliver a major blow to the Shining [...]

Police, Military Confiscate Almost 1 Ton of Cocaine

Peruvian police and army officials have confiscated almost a ton of cocaine this week during two separate operations in the coca-growing region known as the Apurimac and Ene river valley, or VRAE. On Thursday, police in the counter-narcotics division, known as Dirandro, seized 415 kilograms of cocaine in Ayacucho department’s Huanta province, daily El Comercio [...]

Police Confiscate 307 Kgs of Cocaine Hydrochloride in Tri-Border Area

Peruvian police confiscated more than 300 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride that was being smuggled out of Peru on a north jungle river located in the tri-border area with Brazil and Colombia. According to daily El Comercio, the 279 packages containing 307 kilograms of the pure cocaine were seized on the Ucayali river in Loreto region. Authorities found the [...]

Anti-drugs chief says Peru must better use foreign funds

Peru’s new chief of the anti-drug agency Devida, Ricardo Soberon, said that the government will look to better utilize funds from the United States to combat the country’s growing drug trade. Soberon said during an interview with Ideele radio that he is scheduling meetings with the U.S. Embassy and Drug Enforcement Administration to discuss plans [...]

Peru’s coca growing areas increase for 4th consecutive year, UN reports

Peru’s failure to stem the growth of coca production was reconfirmed in the United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board report, released this week.   Also released this week was the U.S. State Department’s annual report on International Narcotics Control Strategy. According to the UN report, in 2009 the number of hectares used for coca cultivation had increased for [...]

Huanuco military base attack, one soldier killed

An attack on a military base in Peru’s coca growing Huanuco department has left one soldier dead, daily El Comercio reported. The attack occurred early Monday morning at the base located in Huanuco’s Leoncio Prado province. Authorities believe that drug traffickers are responsible for the assault in retaliation to the military’s discovery of a drug [...]

U.S. State Department offers reward for Shining Path leaders

The United States Department of State has placed the leaders of two Shining Path factions on its narcotics rewards program, which offers compensation of $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the targets. The announcement comes only weeks after a UN Office on Drug Control and Crime (UNODC) report, questioned by [...]

Defense Minister: New equipment will allow military to defeat drug traffickers in VRAE

Peru’s purchase of modern military equipment will allow the country’s Armed Forces to defeat drug traffickers in the isolated coca growing areas that cover the Apurímac and Ene river valley’s, known as the VRAE, Defense Minister Rafael Rey told state news agency Andina. Rey said that for a long time the armed forces had older [...]

Company believes its Nazca plane was hijacked by drug traffickers

The company that owns a $2 million charter plane that went missing on Thursday during a flight over Peru’s famous Nazca lines believe it was robbed by drug traffickers, daily El Comercio reported. “It is 99 percent likely that the disappearance of the plane is a hijacking and behind it [are drug traffickers],” representative Jorge [...]

Devida: Peru to spend $32 million in 2010 on counternarcotics programs

Peru’s government will spend 93 million soles, about $32 million, in 2010 to combat drug trafficking, according to the head of the anti-drug agency Devida, Rómulo Pizarro. Pizarro said last week that 40 million soles, or $14 million, will be used to finance sustainable development projects in the coca growing areas that cover the Apurímac [...]

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