The Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro (lit. 'Valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro rivers'), also known as the VRAEM, is a geopolitical area in Peru, located in portions of the departments of Ayacucho, Cusco, Huancavelica, and Junin.^[1][2] It is one of the major areas of coca production in Peru.^[3] It is also the center of operation of the far-left terrorist group Shining Path.

The area is extremely poor.^[3] 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.^[4]

Since 2012, Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's largest cocaine-producing country.^[5][6] With local incomes below $10/day, the valleys are used to produce raw paste product, and much of the drug trade is controlled by the Shining Path.^[6][7] With an estimated 19,700 hectares (49,000 acres) of production area (2010), it is presently the world's densest area of cocaine production.^[1][7] Paste product is shipped out of the valleys by armed native backpackers to Cuzco,^[3][6] 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.^[6][7]

• Sivia
• Pichari

11°42′S 74°00′W / 11.7°S 74.0°W / -11.7; -74.0

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