Airstrips detected
Using the Earth Index, a tool that uses computer vision AI to identify patterns in satellite imagery, Mongabay detected 76 clandestine landing strips hidden in the Peruvian Amazon.
Narco airstrips
Journalistic verification of each airstrip involved cross referencing results from Earth Index with government data, open source information and local sources. This investigation confirms that 67 clandestine airstrips distributed between Ucayali (45), Huánuco (17) and Pasco (5), are used for drug trafficking.
Beseiging Indigenous territories
Crucially, 30 of the 67 narco airstrips were detected within Indigenous territories and 26 more are located near them.
Atalaya Province
Illegal airstrips have taken over entire landscapes in this corner of the Amazon Rainforest. In the province of Atalaya, which is part of the Ucayali region, we detected 31 airstrips.
Deadly flights
In these three regions, at least 15 Indigenous leaders have been murdered since the pandemic began in 2020. The area is also the origin of the largest number of flights to ship cocaine, according to sources from the Anti-Drug Directorate of the National Police of Peru.
Surrounded by illegality
Following up on the satellite imagery analysis, Mongabay Latam journalists reached two communities, located between the regions of Huánuco and Pasco with 15 clandestine landing strips in their territories.
Indigenous reserves under pressure
We identified at least three illegal airstrips in Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve. In addition, six illegal airfields are affecting at least three reserves specificially designated for Indigenous peoples living in isolation and initial contact (PIACI). Although these territories should be off limits by law, they are not being protected in practice.
Forestry concessions
Narco airstrips are present in nine forestry concessions, which are zoned for sustainable forest use. The Earth Index identified ten airstrips within these kinds of concessions.
Mendoza Forestry
One of the forestry concessions with clandestine airstrips is managed by the company Forestal Mendoza, whose legal representative is Francisco de Asís Mendoza de Souza, the current provincial mayor of Atalaya. He is under investigation for usurpation, embezzlement and money laundering. The Earth Index detected two illegal airstrips within the concession: one opened in June 2018 and the other in June 2020. According to the mayor, the concession is now in the hands of his nephews.
Rivers and roads
A key investigative finding is that 52 of the 67 narco airstrips located in Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco — where the most Indigenous leaders have been murdered — are one kilometer from rivers and roads, suggesting these locations are strategic points for transfering drug shipments.