Peru’s War on Drugs

Despite the United Nations confirming in 2013 that Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's top coca and cocaine producer, the country’s place atop the drug supply chain has — at least so far — not included the levels of violence seen in Colombia, Mexico, and other international narcotics hubs. The frontlines of Peru’s war on cocaine are restricted to remote coca-producing basins, where drug laboratories and illegal landing strips are abundant. But the government’s campaign of crop eradication and efforts to destroy narco runways risk further igniting a larger social conflict, alienating the coca farmers whose livelihoods depend on growing the illicit crop. VICE News traveled to the heart of Peru’s coca-producing region to witness how the government is waging a war on drugs with the aim of putting an early end to its reign as the world’s new king of cocaine. Watch “The New King of Coke” - http://bit.ly/1zchU6u Watch “Cocaine and Faith in the Amazon” - http://bit.ly/1GM7wEr Read "Sacred Cocaine: Inside the Peruvian Sect Accused of Growing Coca in the Amazon” - http://bit.ly/1GGRfRe Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Check out VICE News for more: http://vicenews.com Follow VICE News here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vicenews Twitter: https://twitter.com/vicenews Tumblr: http://vicenews.tumblr.com/ Instagram: http://instagram.com/vicenews More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideos