Peru cracks down over 60 criminal gangs during state of emergency

Lima: Peruvian President Dina Boluarte announced that the government had successfully dismantled over 60 criminal gangs in at least 14 districts of Lima and Callao under the state of emergency declared in September.

“During the state of emergency in Lima and Callao, more than 180 wanted persons (who are being prosecuted) have been captured and we have suppressed over 60 criminal gangs,” Boluarte noted on Friday. “I know this situation is not easy, it is complicated, but we will win this fight.”

“Their days are numbered… We will have no mercy for those who shed the blood of our countrymen,” she said. “We will not give an inch to heinous crime.”

She stressed that to combat crime in Peru, which has been hit hard by an increasing wave of extortion, the government is implementing the “Safe Peru Plan”, along with measures such as “Safe Dawn”, “Safe Return” and “Genesis Plan.”

The Interior Ministry recently reported that Peru’s National Police arrested at least 1,248 criminals and confiscated over 369 cell phones during the state of emergency in Lima and Callao, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Of all those detained, over 80 were involved in extortion, representing a “precise blow to crime”, while 763 were arrested for theft, 379 for robbery and 15 for murder, among others.