spe
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we're heading now closer to the river to
the center the spiritual center of the
town I should say the church and uh
we're going to meet the Elder Council
after a brief time talking to the Elder
Council our sitdown interview was cut
short the elders rushed outside for
alon's Friday evening
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prayers clearly this was an important
ritual for the atusi their weekly
offering to God these men literally
stopped in their tracks when the music
and singing at the church
began it's it's 6:00 p.m. now and the
brothers are
headed to the
alansa to the
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prayers and then a ritual began in
artoon that few Outsiders have seen
before the Israelites offer an animal
sacrifice to God or as they call it a
holocaust just as Ezekiel had taught
them to do the women are on one side the
men on another and this is the
sacrifice that is being offered on this
Friday by the
Israelites this is about as close as I
think I'll ever get to living in
biblical
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times gradually we began to learn more
about the Israelites and their beliefs
they preach the apocalypse awaiting a
new cosmic cycle where the Amazon will
become a paradise overflowing with milk
and honey they believe they have a
divine right to settle and work the land
they also believe their beards are
antenna that reach God's frequency after
arriving here the brothers began
expanding their settlements while also
taking charge of local agricultural
Commerce today the atusi are the chief
suppliers of consumer produce for the
Peruan and
Amazon then something in Peru
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shifted it's not exactly clear how but
Koka one of the most profitable crops on
Earth began arriving in the Amazon basin
possibly from Growers from the Colombian
side venturing into new territory altoon
sits exactly here and small farmers
belonging to the church live in remote
corners of the rainforest surrounding it
and that is why authorities particularly
from neighboring Brazil say some of the
group's members have become involved in
the drug trade here on this visit we
didn't see Koka in the vicinity of
altoon so we headed to the Brazilian
side of the triple border to learn
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more we just crossed into tabatinga
Brazil this is the community directly on
the Brazilian side of the triple border
region uh no one stopped us no one asked
for our passports uh no one searched our
vehicle so you can kind of get a sense
of how porous this border really is and
the challenges that the anti-drug
efforts of these three governments are
facing as they face increasing COC
production in this triple Frontier
region today the triple border has
become a no man's land where few
policemen enter between tabatinga Brazil
letia Colombia and a small village
called Santa Rosa in Peru barely any
authorities are
present for starters the Peruvian Amazon
province of mariscal Ramon Castilla sits
next to Brazil the world's second
biggest consumer of cocaine after the
United States according to un estimates
in The Last 5 Years Coco plantations in
the province have grown by
400% we met maos poito a senior
investigator with the Brazilian federal
police he's kept an eye on the atusi in
the region and he helped us map out the
situation on a large
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scale for
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every year the Brazilian federal police
and dandro the Peruvian anti-drug agency
run a joint operation called oper trapeo
dandro allowed a Vice news cameraman to
ride along with them on an interdiction
operation right in the region where
theak presence is strongest we spoke to
miguelangel bik who is chief of
operations in the division that combats
drugs in the
AM for
you
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[Applause]
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so this is what it's all about this is a
Coca Plantation of this elicit crop here
in the lower Amazon basin of Peru an
area where 10 years ago uh this crop and
this cultivation uh was completely
unknown
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