Data recently released by the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP) through the 2023 Brazilian Public Security Yearbook shows that the so-called Legal Amazon, in Brazil’s North region, has an intentional violent death (IVD) rate 54% higher than that of the rest of the country.
A Decade of Growing Violence
Since 2012, the Legal Amazon region has had lethal violence rates higher than the national average. In 2022, more than 8 thousand people were victims of intentional lethal violent crimes – a category that includes intentional homicides, robberies and bodily injuries followed by death – in region. In that year, the rate of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants was 26.7 in the states of the Legal Amazon, while in the other states the rate was 17.7.
From 2012 to 2022, the FBSP found that this rate grew, reaching 33.8 IVDs per 100,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, the country reached a total of 23.4.
Amazonas
Among the states that make up the Legal Amazon, Amazonas had the highest rate of intentional lethal violent crimes in 2022: 33.1 for every 100,000 inhabitants, totaling 1,432 murders in the year.
Police Action
The rate of killings by the police is also higher in the region of Legal Amazon compared to the rest of the country. While the country has an average of 3.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, the area accumulated 4.2. From 2016 to 2021, there was an increase of 71% in the Amazon and 35% in the other states.
The Main Driver of the Violence in the Legal Amazon
This scenario of highly elevated criminal rates in the Legal Amazon is the result of the intensification of the local drug commerce, which led to disputes between criminals in the region. The FBSP highlights that, according to data provided by the 2021 UNODC data, and interviews with police agencies, it is estimated that 40% of the volume of money that cocaine trafficking generates in the country passes through the states of the Legal Amazon. And the volume is not small, since it represents 4% of the Brazilian GDP.
Two main factors are behind this scenario. First, the region’s geography, Brazil has borders with three of the main world producers of drugs, especially cocaine: Bolivia, Peru and Colombia. These borders became important outputs of drugs that are sent to large consumer markets: the US, Europe and Africa. The second factor was the assassination of the important drug dealer Jorge Rafaat in Pedro Juan Caballero, in 2016. At that time, the First Capital Command (PCC) reached predominance in the routes used in the Midwest Brazil, pushing Red Command’s (CV) activities towards the North, where new conflicts emerged with PCC and local gangs.
Source: Informe Especial – Segurança Pública e Crime Organizado na Amazônia Legal – Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública. Coordenação Geral: Renato Sérgio de Lima.
Anuário Brasileiro de Segurança Pública 2023.
