This article seeks to understand the importance of indigenous navigation on the northern coast of Peru during the Viceregal Period. Every day the rafts of the village of Indians of San Lucas de Colán arrived at the Spanish port of Paita to provide water and food. Through a smuggling case registered in 1707 in Paita involving two French vessels, the article explores the capacity of the indigenous rafts to participate in the legal and illegal trade along the route that linked Saint-Malo, the American ports on the Pacific and the Far East. The article presents a contextualization of the case and draws conclusions on the importance of indigenous participation. In addition, the article presents the paleographic version of the most relevant document consulted in this research.