Landing on Water: Air Interdiction, Drug-Trafficking Displacement, and Violence in the Brazilian Amazon

Leila Pereira (), Rafael Pucci () and Rodrigo Soares
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Leila Pereira: Insper, São Paulo
Rafael Pucci: University of Sao Paulo

No 17425, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study a Force-down/Shoot-down intervention in Brazil that led cocaine traffickers to shift from air to river routes. Using data on cocaine production, homicides, and the network of rivers in the Amazon, we provide evidence that violence increased in municipalities along river routes originating from Andean producing countries after the policy. We also show that, during the same period, violence in these municipalities became more responsive to cocaine production in origin countries. We document an instance of crime displacement over the three-dimensional space, involving sophisticated adaptations from criminals regarding transportation technologies, with dramatic side-effects for local populations.

Keywords: cocaine; illegal markets; crime displacement; violence; Brazil; Amazon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K42 O54 Q34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2024-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-lam and nep-law
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