AUTORIZADO PARA ROBAR REDES DE CRIMEN ORGANIZADO BLANQUEAN MADERA ILEGAL DE LA AMAZONÍA PERUANA

This 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) exposes how organized crime networks, including 34 public officials and forest regents, use fraudulent official documentation to launder illegal timber from the Peruvian Amazon. Analyzing 1,024 transport guides from 2017, the report finds that a vast majority of timber from local forests and private estates is high-risk, and that systemic failures in the Peruvian legal and administrative systems allow these crimes to persist with impunity.

• Illegal logging and its associated trade are identified as the third largest crime globally. In Peru, this activity causes deforestation, biodiversity loss, and social impacts including violence, corruption, and the eradication of indigenous populations.
• In 2017, Peru deforested 155,914 hectares of forests, with one-third of this loss occurring in the Loreto and Ucayali regions. OSINFOR reported that 67% of the timber extracted in 2017 was illegal due to a lack of legal origin verification during supervisions.
• The report identifies a systemic 'laundering' of illegal timber through the use of official documents issued by public officials in the Loreto and Ucayali regions. This process involves the fraudulent use of forest contracts, Forest Management Plans (PMF), and Forest Transport Guides (GTF) to give illegal timber a legal appearance.
• Analysis of 1,024 Forest Transport Guides (GTF) reveals that 92% of these documents cite Forest Management Plans approved by the Regional Forestry and Wildlife Authorities (ARFFS) of Loreto and Ucayali.
• A significant portion of timber transport documents are associated with high-risk profiles in OSINFOR's Management Information System (SIGO) 'red list'. Specifically, 58% of GTFs with supervised plans are on the red list, with the risk being higher in Loreto (75%) than in Ucayali (26%).
• Certain types of forest authorizations show extremely high rates of risk. The SIGO red list includes 98% of contracts in local forests, 94% of permits on private estates, and 75% of permits in native communities.
• There is a disparity in risk levels between timber destined for the domestic market and that destined for export. While 62% of timber heading to Lima is on the red list, 68% of timber heading to the Port of Callao is on the 'green list', suggesting that export products are selected for lower risk levels.
• The report identifies organized crime networks composed of forest regents, public officials, and private entrepreneurs who collude to extract and trade illegal timber. The document specifically identifies 34 Peruvian government officials as accomplices in the laundering process.
• Despite the existence of administrative and criminal sanctions under the Forestry and Wildlife Law and various Legislative Decrees (Nº 1319, 1237, 1244, and 1249), the report states that legal processes are weak and slow, and penalties do not reflect the actual magnitude of environmental damage.

APA

Gómez, R. N. (2019). AUTORIZADO PARA ROBAR REDES DE CRIMEN ORGANIZADO BLANQUEAN MADERA ILEGAL DE LA AMAZONÍA PERUANA. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Autorizado-Para-Robar-August-2019-updated.pdf

Chicago

Gómez, Rolando Navarro. AUTORIZADO PARA ROBAR REDES DE CRIMEN ORGANIZADO BLANQUEAN MADERA ILEGAL DE LA AMAZONÍA PERUANA. Center for International Environmental Law, 2019. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Autorizado-Para-Robar-August-2019-updated.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gómez |first1=Rolando Navarro |title=AUTORIZADO PARA ROBAR REDES DE CRIMEN ORGANIZADO BLANQUEAN MADERA ILEGAL DE LA AMAZONÍA PERUANA |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=2019 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Autorizado-Para-Robar-August-2019-updated.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gmez2019autorizado, author = {Gómez, Rolando Navarro}, title = {{AUTORIZADO PARA ROBAR REDES DE CRIMEN ORGANIZADO BLANQUEAN MADERA ILEGAL DE LA AMAZONÍA PERUANA}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2019}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Autorizado-Para-Robar-August-2019-updated.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }