DEA base installation in Santa Lucia
In September 1989, a DEA base was installed in Santa Lucia, San Martin, as part of the anti-drug operations in the Upper Huallaga. This installation contributed significantly to the decline of Uchiza as the main drug trafficking center in the valley.
In September 1989, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) base was installed in Santa Lucia as part of anti-drug operations in the Upper Huallaga. This installation was part of a confluence of obstacles that contributed to the decline of the town of Uchiza as an open drug trafficking center and the largest market in the valley since 1984. The DEA base operated in conjunction with other measures such as the initiation of aerial interdiction by the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) with support from the U.S. Southern Command. These actions, added to the experimental fumigations with SPIKE and the dissemination of the Fusarium Oxysporum fungus, as well as the PCP-SL pressures on the companies, provoked the displacement of coca growers and companies to Bajo Huallaga and other areas such as Aguaytía and Pichis Palcazu.