Earlier this year 2oceansVibe reported about a tribe in western Brazil, living some 50 kilometres from the Peruvian border, that had until then, not been contacted by modern man. Sadly the tribe has gone missing after drug traffickers overran Brazilian guards posted to protect the area around which the tribe was living.

Survival International, a tribal advocacy group, has reported that police have found a 20kg package of cocaine in the area and that the drug trade may have ultimately aided in frightening the tribe deep into the Amazon.

Workers from FUNAI, the government bureau of Indian affairs, have also reportedly found a broken arrow in one of the men’s backpacks, raising fears for the tribe’s safety.

Carlos Travassos, head of the government’s isolated Indians department, said:

We think the Peruvians made the Indians flee. Now we have good proof. We are more worried than ever.

This situation could be one of the biggest blows we have ever seen in the protection of uncontacted Indians in recent decades. It’s a catastrophe.

According to Jose Carlos Meirelles, the man who headed the guard post operation, several groups of men armed with sub-machine guns and rifles are now in the forest near the base.

His fear is that this could mean that the Envira River, where the Brazilian guard post was located, is now an entry point into Brazil for Peruvian cocaine smugglers.

Survival International also raised further fears over the demand for the precious natural resources located in the area like wood for logging.

It’s thought that the community may have had around 150 members and that in total, some 2 000 Indians may be living in the western Amazon area.

[Source: DailyMail]