This movie was made in the 1970s and is a crime movie probably made for TV. All I remember is that a detective (thin white guy in his 40s and looking the type in a fedora-type hat) was searching for someone (missing person or possibly a killer). I think it had a jungle environment and when he was walking through that environment, he ran into a shaman who looked like Erik Estrada. Only reason I think that is because I saw the movie around 1980 and Chips was big then. I was young so I could be mistaken.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker episode called “Legacy of Terror”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304434/
Eric Estrada was actually in this episode.
and you can watch the whole episode on youtube.