Amazon Underworld: criminal economies in the world’s largest rainforest

The Amazon rainforest covers approximately seven million square kilometres and connects nine different countries. It is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. At the same time, it is an epicentre of criminal activities, such as illegal gold mining and the trafficking of cocaine over its hundreds of rivers. The Amazon region has a complex underground economy that is driven by a growing global demand for commodities. This hidden economy fuels violence and deforestation, and threatens biodiversity and Amazon communities.

Header photo: © Tom Laffay

Amazon Underworld, Amazon Watch and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, supported by IUCN NL and others, conducted research in remote parts of the Amazon to document transboundary illegal sectors. In total, 37 journalists and media professionals conducted hundreds of interviews to analyse the dynamics and impact on nature and Indigenous peoples of these hidden economies. The research is presented in the report Amazon Underworld: criminal economies in the world’s largest rainforest.

Criminal networks in the Amazon

In remote regions of the Amazon, where institutions are fragile, disputes, especially those related to mining, frequently escalate into violence. This violence greatly affects how natural resources are handled. As global demands for commodities continue to grow, there is no sign these criminal groups will stop growing, nor the violence they cause. According to the researchers, ‘criminal networks know how to exploit the weaknesses and lack of co-operation between Amazonian states, using borders as safe havens to multiply and evade sporadic law enforcement crackdowns.’

Criminal organisations that previously focused on drug trafficking, such as Comando Vermelho (CV) and the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), have now expanded their activities to illicit gold mining in the Amazon. These groups have penetrated Indigenous reserves, like Yanomami and Munduruku. Corruption facilitates the involvement of criminal networks in environmental crimes, allowing them to exploit their influence for extraction and smuggling.

‘As organised crime prevails in many parts of the Amazon, governments and multilateral bodies must do better to support the local communities operating on the front lines of the Amazon’s most conflictive areas.’

Bram Ebus from Amazon Underworld

Essential role for Indigenous peoples

The research report emphasises the importance to reverse this trend while the Amazon is approaching its ‘point of no return’. Indigenous peoples have been among those leading in pushing back against criminal groups. One of the recommendations of the report is for public policies to strengthen Indigenous peoples’ own strategies of territorial control and governance.

Bram Ebus, lead investigative journalist and coordinator of the Amazon Underworld project: ‘As organised crime prevails in many parts of the Amazon, governments and multilateral bodies must do better to support the local communities operating on the front lines of the Amazon’s most conflictive areas, where violent invaders destroy the rainforest and target Indigenous and environmental defenders. Criminal networks operate freely in the Amazon, as if country borders do not exist. If governments, civil society, and the international community want to protect the world’s most biodiverse ecosystem, cooperation is key.’