Mongabay’s Latin America team (Mongabay Latam) used AI tools to scour satellite imagery cross-referenced with official sources and on-the-ground observations plus interviews to detect 67 illegal airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. Thirty-one of those were concentrated in Atalaya, which has become one of the most violent provinces in the Amazon. Most of these recently constructed airstrips are located in and around Indigenous communities, whose members often object to their presence, leading to the killings of 11 Indigenous leaders and community members, though that number is known to be higher, as some killings have gone unreported to avoid retribution.
The densely forested terrain of most Peruvian Indigenous communities and year-round growing season make detecting illegal airstrips very challenging, since they are only used when a new drug crop is ready to be shipped, allowing the rainforest to grow over and obscure them between occasional flights.
