The disappearance of a British journalist and an indigenist in Java Valley emphasized this remote Amazonian area on Brazil’s border with Peru and Colombia, with a strong presence of drug trafficking linked to other crimes such as illegal fishing.

The place where Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were last seen sailing the Itaquaí River on the morning of Sunday 5th is nearby the second largest indigenous land in Brazil, with a population of 6,300 people from 26 villages, of which 19 live completely isolated.

The region has suffered in recent years an increase in crime to which, according to sources consulted by the AFP which operated in the region, it is due a more lax control of the state Brazilian, exploited by drug traffickers and others illegal organizations fishing, mining, hunting and logging industries operating on protected lands.

This led the police delegate to Amazonas, Eduardo Alexandre, to describe it as an area “rather dangerous”when the search for missing persons is started.

“The forest, by its nature, has always been a privileged space for traffic because the drug can be disguised more easily than in other circles, “said Aiala Colares, geographer of the Federal University of Pará and researcher specializing in the Amazon at the NGO Brazilian Forum for Public Security.

In the immensity of the dense Amazonian forest, crossed by rivers that in some months of the year flood part of the vegetation, the indigenous peoples have faced growing threats and invasions by criminal groups.

Since the 1990s, drug traffickers have gambled on the region’s waterways for the transportation of drugs, primarily cocaine from Peru and skunk-type cannabis and marijuana from Colombia, Colares noted.

Traffic has grown significantly in the last decade, said the expert, who explained that this route ends up supplying the Brazilian market or continues abroad.

Colares defined as “multidimensional” the action of the gangs that operate there, as they mix both drug trafficking and environmental crimes such as wood smuggling and illegal fishing.

The main one, “Os Crias”, emerged in 2021 as a dissident of the Familia do Norte, one of the largest organizations in the Amazon. The faction, originally from the region, dominates the triple border on the Brazilian side and the Javarí routes, he added.

Bárbara Arisi, anthropologist and professor at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, has been working with the Javari peoples since 2003 and assures that she has found a deterioration in the last decade.

“More and more criminals, more organized and armed he took advantage of the lack of state structure “in that area, said Arisi, who highlighted the penetration of drug trafficking in some indigenous peoples, such as the Tikuna.

The anthropologist compared the insertion of the narco in indigenous communities with the penetration into the favelas of cities such as Rio de Janeiro.

“The narco offers many young people a life they have no choice to achieve. He offers them money and many end up becoming mules or informants, “explained the anthropologist.

For example, Atalaia do Norte, the city where Phillips and Pereira had their base during their expedition, it has the third worst human development index in all of Brazil among more than 5,000 municipalities, according to the latest census.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019 with the promise of develop the Amazona territory, in his words, occupied by “poor Indians” in “rich lands”.

The president changed the direction of the government agency for indigenous affairs, Funai, and entrusted the sector of isolated tribes to an evangelical pastor, accused by activists of ignoring the interests it serves.

The base of the Funai located on the Itaquaí River was hit several times in recent years.

The absence of the state

Pereira himself, who as a graduate of the agency helped the natives to organize themselves to defend the territory, he had been threatened by loggers, miners and fishermen trying to invade the protected lands.

“What happened with Bruno and Dom is the result of a growth in organized crime that is explained by the absence of the state“, said Antenor Vaz, head of Funai in Javarí, between 2006 and 2009.

Vaz was pessimistic about the possibility that the authorities would find the authors and the minds of the case.

He recalled the gunshot murder in 2019 of Maxiel Pereira dos Santos, head of operations against illegal loggers and fishermen in Funai. Three years later, no suspects were charged.

“Any citizen who raises his voice against illegality is exposed,” he added.

What is known about Phillips and Pereira

The search for British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who disappeared in this remote region of the Brazilian Amazon, enters its tenth day on Tuesday amid questions and persistent international pressure to resolve the case.

Much confusion emerged on Monday after the reporter’s relatives were informed by a Brazilian diplomat in London of the discovery of two bodies awaiting identification and which had been found tied to a tree.

The Federal Police, official spokesperson for the investigation, denied this information. Even the indigenous participating in the research denied the discovery of two bodies.

The federal government has received criticism from activists, international organizations and the Brazilian justice system for the alleged slowness and lack of coordination in research efforts.

The searches are conducted by indigenous groups and security forces.

The latter found on Sunday the personal effects of both: backpack, clothes, shoes and Pereira’s health card. According to the firefighters, the objects were found submerged near the home of Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, the only detainee so far linked to the case.

AFP