Source:
InSight Crime, 2023. Stolen Amazon: The Roots of Environmental Crime
The investigative report “Stolen Amazon: The Roots of Environmental Crime” by InSight Crime (2023) offers a deep, multi-country examination of how organized criminal networks profit from and perpetuate illegal mining, logging, and the mercury trade across the Amazon Basin. Focusing particularly on the tri-border region between Peru, Brazil, and Colombia, the study traces the links between extractive crimes and broader illicit economies, including drug trafficking and arms smuggling. Drawing on field interviews, law enforcement data, and on-the-ground reporting, it reveals the extent to which environmental crime is embedded in local economies and political structures.
A key strength of the report is its ability to map out the layers of complicity—from small-scale operatives to powerful political patrons—and to show how corruption and weak governance create space for these activities to flourish. In the case of illegal gold mining, InSight Crime documents the supply chains of mercury, the laundering of illicit gold through formal channels, and the use of riverine transport routes that cross multiple jurisdictions. The analysis makes clear that enforcement is not just a matter of policing rivers and forests, but of confronting well-organized transnational networks with economic and political leverage.
The relevance of this work to current coverage lies in its demonstration that environmental crimes are not isolated acts of opportunism but part of systemic, organized economies that undermine trust in state institutions. This has direct implications for the social license to operate legitimate mining and infrastructure projects in the Amazon region: when communities see criminality and environmental destruction go unpunished, their skepticism toward any large-scale project deepens. Addressing these criminal networks—and the governance gaps they exploit—is essential not only for environmental protection but also for building the social legitimacy necessary for lawful, sustainable development.