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A report released during COP30, in Belém (PA), raised an alert about the presence of criminal factions in areas of the Legal Amazon, with emphasis on the actions of Comando Vermelho (CV) in Acre and Rondônia. According to a report by the newspaper O Globo, published on Tuesday (11), the group would be raiding farms in both states to store shipments of drugs that are then sent to other regions of the country.
Report highlights CV’s role in land grabbing and trafficking in the Amazon, including Acre/Photo: Reproduction
The investigations cited in the document indicate that the faction has been expanding its logistical routes and using the structure of environmental crimes to drive trafficking. There are records of joint illegal timber and narcotics operations along the Transamazônica, with the aim of masking transport and facilitating distribution. Another excerpt from the report mentions that, in the Solimões River, CV members were mixing fish with cocaine while sending cargo, in an attempt to evade sniffer dogs and reduce the chances of seizure.
The material also describes that, in the interior of Pará, forest areas have been deforested to open illegal mines, used as a refuge for fugitive criminals. In addition to the Comando Vermelho, there is evidence that the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) also operates in these points, in the so-called narcogarimpo, a combination of clandestine mining and drug trafficking.
According to the report, this criminal structure has directly impacted the environment, with an increase in deforestation, fires and mercury contamination of rivers, factors that worsen the climate crisis in the Amazon and compromise the safety of local communities.
“Today there are organized criminal markets throughout the Amazon. Traffickers help each other not only within states, but also between countries, forming transnational networks. Our message at this COP30 is that public security is fundamental for sustainable development in the region”, said David Marques, project manager at the Brazilian Public Security Forum, one of the entities responsible for the study.
