Deep within the lush expanse of the Colombian Amazon, sprawling networks of informal roads and river paths are serving as lifelines for illegal activities, transforming the region into a corridor for traffickers, smugglers, and armed groups moving drugs, meat, coca, and other commodities beyond the reach of law enforcement.
The Amazon’s dense forest, long seen as a barrier to civilization, is increasingly crisscrossed by thousands of kilometers of unregulated paths that have become critical to criminal supply chains.
According to recent geographic analysis, illegal routes have expanded rapidly across the region, pushing deeper into protected areas and Indigenous territories. These routes are not only degrading fragile ecosystems but also creating lucrative opportunities for organized crime to traffic illicit goods with limited oversight, Mongabay reports.
Roads of crime, not development
Colombia’s Amazon — home to one of the world’s richest reserves of biodiversity — now has among the highest density of roads in the entire Amazon basin. Research by environmental groups reveals that since 2018, armed groups have been responsible for building over 8,000 kilometers of informal roads that snake through the rainforest, facilitating the movement of illegal cargo and people.
These routes often start as narrow clearings that quickly widen into thoroughfares used for transporting cattle, timber and, increasingly, products of illicit economies. In areas such as Mapiripán, in the Meta department, satellite imagery shows more than 500 kilometers of illegal tracks carved into the forest, enabling the expansion of cattle ranching and coca cultivation — both markets tightly linked to criminal networks.
Coca, cattle, and more
The very landscape is being reshaped around these informal corridors. In regions near La Libertad and La Paz in Guaviare, roads that were nearly invisible in satellite images two decades ago now run for dozens of kilometers, with frontier economies in coca and ganadería (cattle ranching) proliferating alongside them. This expansion has driven deforestation, with tens of thousands of hectares of rainforest cleared around these paths.
Local outlet El Espectador reports that federal agencies and nongovernmental defenders of the Amazon have sounded alarms about the consequences of this development. Illegal routes not only make deforestation more profitable but also link remote production zones to broader trafficking networks. As coca cultivation spreads, so too does the movement of coca paste and cocaine destined for markets nationally and internationally.
Armed groups and crime syndicates
The Colombian Amazon is not just a transit zone for raw materials; it is a battlefield where dozens of armed groups compete for control of this expanding criminal frontier. Recent studies identify at least 17 armed organizations operating in the region, including international syndicates such as Comando Vermelho from Brazil and Colombian factions such as Comandos de la Frontera.
These groups exploit the road networks to move drugs, contraband, and revenue-generating products such as cattle and timber. In some border towns such as Puerto Leguizamo and Valle del Guamuez, criminal groups have established checkpoints on rivers and trails, extorting travelers and controlling access to lucrative smuggling corridors.
National authorities acknowledge the scale of the challenge. The Colombian military has conducted operations to dismantle illegal paths, destroying bridges and road segments in protected areas such as Chiribiquete National Park to disrupt trafficking and reduce deforestation, according to La Nacion.
Environmental and social toll
The consequences of this sprawling network of illegal routes extend beyond crime. The deforestation driven by road expansion is jeopardizing the Amazon’s capacity to store carbon and sustain Indigenous communities whose territories have long been ecological bulwarks. Indigenous reserves and protected parks find themselves encircled by informal roads, limiting mobility for authorities and exposing them to incursions by armed groups.
Mongabay
Human rights organizations warn that without coordinated efforts to reclaim control over these corridors, the Amazon could increasingly resemble a lawless frontier where criminal economies overshadow sustainable development.
Authorities are underpressure
As Colombia and neighboring nations grapple with the twin threats of environmental loss and criminal entrenchment, authorities are under pressure to deploy more resources to monitor and dismantle illegal infrastructure. Experts point to the need for integrated strategies that combine security, sustainable economic alternatives for local communities, and stronger regional cooperation across Amazonian borders.
In a region where dense forest once deterred human movement, the proliferation of illegal routes is now one of the Amazon’s most profound challenges — a catalyst for crime, deforestation, and social upheaval that stretches far beyond Colombia’s national boundaries.