Much of this land is within the borders of the Alto Rio Negro and Yanomami reserves, a combined 18 million hectares.[1]
According to Fabricio Amorim from Fundação Nacional do Índio, the region contains "the greatest concentration of isolated groups in the Amazon and the world".[2][3]
A UN report said that the hotspot where a reporter was killed."probably [had] among the densest concentration of organized crime groups on earth”.[4] In June 2022 Guardian reporter Dom Phillips and his companion Bruno Pereira were killed in Tabatinga in the Vale do Javari.[5]
The region is known for being a trafficking route for cocaine.[6] Illegal activities, like fishing (mostly to export pirarucu and piracatinga),[7] logging and mining, help criminal groups linked to drug trafficking to launder money and import more drugs to Brazil.[8][9][10]
Due to the extensive border with Colombia and Peru, Tabatinga is considered by the Federal Police and the Brazilian Army to be one of the main points of entry of cocaine into Brazil. According to Brazilian police authorities, the precarious enforcement of the law and problems of neighboring nations with illicit narcotics production make Tabatinga a frequent point of entry for drugs bound for Brazil's major cities.[11]
Spring, Jake; Boadle, Anthony; Spring, Jake (2022-06-19). "Brazil indigenous defender, sidelined under Bolsonaro, gave life for 'abandoned' tribes". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-08-17. The work of the vigilance team quickly drew attention from local fishermen who sell tons of threatened river fish across the nearby border with Peru. Illegal fishing, mining and poaching in the area is often financed by criminal groups laundering money from a growing cross-border drug trade, according to state and federal police.
Tom Philips (4 January 2011). "Rio drug trade turns Amazon city into crime capital". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2011. Much of the cocaine sold in Rio is said to arrive through Tabatinga, a smuggling mecca lost on Brazil's tri-border with Peru and Colombia, around 700 miles upriver from Manaus.