The network of legalized and clandestine small-scale miners within the bounds of Legal Amazonia has become pivotal in the expansion of drug-trafficking in the region. The area covers the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins, and part of Maranhão.
A research study published in early 2024 by the Brazilian Public Safety Forum (FBSP) demonstrates that criminal factions, such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC (First Capital Command), and Comando Vermelho – CV (Red Command), have come to use established gold-mining logistics structure in Roraima and Pará to sell drugs.
The research involved field studies in the municipalities of Itaituba, Jacareacanga, and Santarém, in Pará, and the city of Boa Vista and the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Reservation (TIRSS), both in Roraima State. Dozens of public safety and environmental enforcement agents were interviewed during this project, and ethnographic observations were conducted and informal conversations held with small-scale miners and residents.
The research identified that members of criminal organizations sell drugs for consumption by local populations, and operate as armed security for these miners. “Airplanes, pilots, and illegal landing strips created for small-scale mining activities are being commandeered by the narcos. This connection gave rise to a recently coined phenomenon, known as narcomining,” says sociologist Rodrigo Pereira Chagas, of the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR). “Small-scale mining has intensified in the region over the last five years. The articulation between this activity and drug trafficking has led to a higher incidence of violent situations and environmental threats,” says Chagas, one of the study’s authors.
According to him, the rate of intentional violent deaths (MVI) per 100,000 inhabitants of Brazil in 2022 was 23.3 victims, while in Legal Amazonia it was 33.8.
According to the FBSP survey, small-scale mining in Roraima is concentrated in Indigenous lands, where mining is prohibited, whereas in Pará, legal extraction is carried out, but only in some areas. Financial Compensation for Mineral Exploration (CFEM) is an excise levied on profits from mineral exploration.
In 2022, the state of Pará levied the most CFEM funds in all of Legal Amazonia: almost R$3 billion, according to the National Mining Agency (ANM). A considerable part of this income is due to legal iron ore mining activities in the state. Roraima State did not receive any CFEM input that year. “According to local authorities and actors, such as public safety operatives and environmental enforcement agents, the high amount of CFEM levied in Pará may also suggest that the state has become a safe haven for small-scale miners to regularize some of the gold extracted illegally from other territories,” he suggests.
Geologist Maria José Maluf de Mesquita, of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), believes there to be alternatives to this type of activity, with less predatory practices. Mesquita coordinates the project “CRAFTing responsible tin: A path to ethical and sustainable mining practices in the Brazilian Amazon,” run in partnership with entities such as the Santa Cruz Small-Scale Miners’ Cooperative and the Rondônia Metallurgy Cooperative. He has been studying the work of small-scale mining cooperatives for more than a decade, and believes that these organizations have been collaborating in the development of less environmentally harmful mineral extraction practices. “Small-scale miners are prohibited from discharging mercury into rivers if they wish to join the cooperatives,” he concludes.
The story above was published with the title “The narcomining phenomenon” in issue 343 of September/2024.
Scientific article
PEREIRA-CHAGAS, R. Narcogarimpo: As afinidades eletivas entre frentes de garimpo ilegal e expansão do tráfico de drogas na Amazônia brasileira. Urvio. Online. No. 38, pp. 32–48. 2024.
