Illegal drug trade in Peru - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The illegal drug trade in Peru includes the growing of coca

Coca

Coca, Erythroxylum coca, is a plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. The plant plays a significant role in many traditional Andean cultures...

and the shipment of cocaine

Cocaine

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

to the United States. In an example of the balloon effect

Balloon effect

The balloon effect is an often cited criticism of United States drug policy. This effect draws an analogy between efforts to eradicate the production of illegal drugs in South American countries and what happens to the air inside of a latex balloon when it is squeezed. The air is moved, but does...

, dramatic falls in coca cultivation in the late 1990s saw cultivation move to Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

.

Vladimiro Montesinos

Vladimiro Montesinos

Vladimiro Ilyich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional , under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition...

was the long-standing head of Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

's intelligence

Intelligence (information gathering)

Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...

service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional

National Intelligence Service (Peru)

The National Intelligence Service was an intelligence agency of the Government of Peru. The agency was disbanded by Alberto Fujimori after its de facto chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, was caught paying bribes to major political, military and media figures. Fujimori later pleaded guilty to charges...

(SIN), under President Alberto Fujimori

Alberto Fujimori

Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...

. In 2000, secret videos were televised revealing him bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition and join the Fujimorist side of Congress; the ensuing scandal caused Montesinos to flee the country, hastening the resignation of Fujimori. Subsequent investigations revealed Montesinos to be at the centre of a vast web of illegal activities, including embezzlement

Embezzlement

Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....

, graft

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

, gunrunning

Gunrunning

Arms trafficking, also known as gunrunning, is the illegal trafficking or smuggling of contraband weapons or ammunition.The 1997 Report of the UN Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms provides a more refined and precise definition, which has become internationally accepted...

, and drug trafficking, for which he is currently being tried. Montesinos had strong connections with the CIA , the American Intelligence Agency, having received some $10 Million from the agency.

In 2001 American Christian missionary Roni Bowers

Roni Bowers

Veronica "Roni" Bowers was an American Christian missionary who became known as a victim of the War on Drugs.Bowers, her daughter Charity, husband Jim, and six-year-old son Cory were being flown into Peru when the United States' Central Intelligence Agency observed the Peruvian Air Force shooting...

's plane was shot down by the Peruvian Air Force, in the belief it was carrying drugs.

In 2004 Fernando Zevallos

Fernando Zevallos

Fernando Melciades Zevallos González, also known as Fernando Melciades Zevallos Gonzáles, is the founder and owner of what was Peru's largest airline, Aero Continente...

, founder of airline Aero Continente, was added to the US list of drug kingpins. The Chilean government accused the airline's personnel of using their airplanes for trafficking drugs and subsequently grounded Aero Continente Chile in June 2002 and seized their assets.

See also