The Awá people live in the rural area between the Telembí River, in Nariño, and the province of Esmeraldas, in the south, already in Ecuador. Because they are gatherers and hunters, their reservations are usually located in the middle of the jungle, at least three hours away from the main roads.

These remote places coincide with strategic points that criminal gangs dispute in the area, since they are part of their corridors to transport drugs between the Andean mountains and the Pacific Ocean.