SPECIALIZED DEPARTMENT FOR NARCOTICS INVESTIGATION: COMBATING DRUG TRAFFICKING IN AMAZONAS BETWEEN 2015 AND 2024

Abstract

The Amazon region has become a strategic arena for transnational drug trafficking, challenging state sovereignty through complex territorial dynamics. This study analyzes the fight against organized crime, guided by the question: What are the structures for combating drug trafficking in Brazil and the State of Amazonas, and what are the possibilities for new public policies aimed at Combating Transnational Organized Crime and International Drug Trafficking? The general objective is to present the structure of the fight against drug trafficking in Brazil and the State of Amazonas, and the possibilities for new public policies focused on Combating Transnational Organized Crime and International Drug Trafficking. The specific objectives sought to describe the functional structure of the Specialized Department for Narcotics Investigations (DENARC); identify the process of drug trafficking territorialization in the Amazon; understand the expansion of drug trafficking across borders through the lens of globalization-fragmentation; and analyze public policies aimed at combating drug trafficking in Amazonas. The methodology, descriptive and exploratory in nature with a mixed-method approach (qualitative-quantitative), utilized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with ten DENARC agents. Results revealed that, although there is progress in seizure volumes and the use of intelligence, operational effectiveness is constrained by technological limitations and the region's geographical complexity. The discussion highlights that the state response, predominantly repressive, clashes with the adaptive capacity of criminal factions, concluding that effective combat requires a transition to integrated security governance, with inter-institutional cooperation and investment in advanced territorial monitoring.