Peru: 62 People Arrested Within 24 Hours of State of Emergency

According to the Ministry of Interior, the Peruvian National Police (PNP) arrested 62 people in the first 24 hours of the state of emergency against insecurity in force at 00:00 hours last Wednesday in nine districts.

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The measure applied in the Lima districts of San Juan de Lurigancho and San Martín de Porres, as well as in seven in the Piura region (north), allowed the capture "of 14 people with arrest warrants and 48 others for various crimes," the Ministry said in a statement. 

It added that on the first day of the state of emergency, more than 2,000 PNP agents carried out 202 operations in the two districts of the capital, as well as in Sullana, Bellavista, Marcavelica, Salitral, Querecotillo, Ignacio Escudero and Miguel Checa, in Piura.

The agents were able to dismantle eight criminal gangs dedicated to extortion, contract killings and car parts theft. They seized 10 firearms and 146 cell phones of dubious origin, and confiscated 1,414 packages of different types of drugs.

The tweet reads, "Present in the main square of Sullana, PNP Colonel Nobar Gayosa Ludeña, head of the Police Region Piura, instructed and recommended to police personnel on the development of PNP operations, in compliance with the State of Emergency, according to Supreme Decree 105-2023-PCM."

The ministry said citing the Criminal Investigation Directorate (Dirincri) that police officers were deployed in the critical points identified in the jurisdictions in question, where they carried out identity checks on passers-by and passengers of public transport vehicles.

In the case of San Juan de Lurigancho, the police seized five firearms, 524 packages with cocaine base paste and packages with cocaine hydrochloride and marijuana, in addition to recovering 130 vehicles reported stolen and 70 cell phones of dubious origin. Thirty-two people were also arrested.

The tweet reads, "President Dina Boluarte announced S/54.5 million to address crime in areas declared in a state of emergency. "

In San Martín de Porres, 12 operations were carried out which resulted in the seizure of 400 packages with cocaine base paste, marijuana, a firearm and four replicas, 74 cell phones and the arrest of six people.

In the districts of Sullana, 49 foreign citizens "who were allegedly violating Peruvian immigration laws" were detained, in addition to 22 people in need of justice or involved in various crimes.

On September 18, the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency in at least nine districts of the country to address the rising crime wave plaguing these localities. This came shortly after a discotheque in San Juan de Lurigancho was attacked with an explosive device, leaving 10 people injured.