VRAE

The Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro ("valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro rivers"), also known as the VRAEM or VRAE, is a geopolitical area in Peru. It is one of the major areas of coca-growing in Peru. The area is extremely poor.

The VRAEM is an area of such high childhood malnutrition and poverty that the government of Peru selected the VRAEM to launch its National Strategy for Growth program in 2007.

Since 2012, Peru has overtaken Colombia as the worlds largest cocaine production country. With local incomes below $10/day, and the natives having suffered from the Shining Path rebels, the valleys are used to produce raw paste product. With an estimated 19,700 hectares (49,000 acres) of production area (2010), it is presently the world's densest area of cocaine production. Paste product is shipped out of the valleys by armed native backpackers to Cuzco, and then onward shipped to either: the Pacific Ocean ports; the Bolivian border, where it is sold to one of the drug cartels; or to mule-traffickers who ship the product onwards via scheduled air transport to Europe and North America.

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