In the eight days that passed between the denunciation of the kidnapping of 13 workers in Pataz and the confirmation of their murder in a clandestine envon, the government of Dina Boluarte had no more reaction than its skepticism about the veracity of the news. Only last Monday, after the discovery of the bodies – with obvious signs of cruelty – the president announced several actions to fight illegal mining in the province. Two of them, directly related to mining activities, do not have details about their implementation so far.
In addition to the curfew and the future creation of a military base in Pataz – the La Libertad region is in a state of emergency since 14 months ago – the Executive announced the suspension of mining activities for 30 days and the exclusion of natural and legal persons that have a “suspended” condition in the Integral Mining Formalization Registry (Reinfo) throughout the province. The problem is that until the closing of this note it has not been specified how both actions will be executed in logistics terms.
In Pataz, anchovies can be found everywhere. The image also shows a mining machinery. Photos: Mathías Panizo/GEC/ Mathías Panizo Arana
To have an idea of the magnitude of the problem: in this area there are at least 450 illegal bocamins identified and georeferenced, According to sources from this newspaper. These are the doors of entering clandestine tunnels where criminals enter the mining concessions to illegally extract gold or to kidnap formal staff and appropriate the gross material.
This material leaves Pataz in dump trucks that move to processing plants located in the same region, in Ica or Arequipa. During 2024, only from the concession area of the three formal miners in the area (powerful, horizon and marsa) 11,000 of these vehicles came out, none owned by these companies. It is an average of 30 trucks every day that cross half a country without problems. A report by this February 2024 newspaper, realized that the average by then was 22 dump trucks per day. This shows that, although last year several attacks were also reported and even the finding of a pit with 15 corpses in Pataz, government actions did not impact the reduction of this problem.
The fence in the background was installed by powerful to prevent illegal miners or parkers from accessing the Operations of the Minera. The rocks are black by the smoke, as well as the water on the ground, covered with thick remains./ Mathías Panizo Arana
Yesterday, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Jorge Luis Montero Cornejo, specified that the suspension of mining activities does not involve formal companies, which in said province add more than 200 of small mining and artisanal mining. “The suspension is for 30 days while the Armed Forces and the Police take control of the territory and begin their work of searching and capturing criminals and criminal organizations”he said on TV Peru. Regarding the registrations suspended from Reinfo, whose inspection is responsible for its sector, did not provide more details.
For Nicolás Zevallos, founder and director of the Institute of Criminology, although the suspension was a measure requested by the mining sector, it is not clear how it will be executed, taking into account logistics limits. In Pataz there are 1,291 inscriptions in Reinfo, of which 530 are in force and 761 are suspended. “The problem is who is going to control it and how. There is no operational capacity to monitor. Reinfo monitoring corresponds to the energy sector and mines and regional governments, not the police,” Explain.
In 2024, Congress approved to expand the reinfill for six months until June 2025 with the possibility of extending it until December. (Photo: Andina)
In dialogue with this newspaper, Zevallos considered that concentrating efforts on the police interdiction of Bocaminas generates huge operational wear because it is several hundred areas to intervene. For example, despite the fact that a contingent of 800 police and military personnel arrived in Pataz for interdiction operations last April, just 20 bocaminas were flying.
Background problem
The truth is that specialists consulted by The trade They insist that what is announced by the Executive are provisional actions that do not impact the illegal production chain. Zaraí Toledo, researcher in informal informal economies, especially informal mining, considers that the exclusion of suspended reinforce has no relevance because criminal organizations can use active records or get new. In fact, previous investigations have evidenced that the dump trucks with the gross product are transferred to different regions with formal documents, either because miners with active reinforce are part of the chain, sell the remission guides to the illegal or are extorted by them.
“What is going to be achieved is to look for other testaferros to register again and thus continue in the business. The reim has become the corner of trials to be able to legitimize illegal activities. When it was created, it had a good premise, but without accompaniment, monitoring and surveillance, it became an umbrella to avoid interdictions ”explains Toledo. In your opinion it is more urgent Establish an effective intelligence system that studies the joints between financiers, criminal arms and political arms that guarantee their continuity. In turn, give true accompaniment to the small miners who are looking to formalize and who are now displaced, co -opted or threatened by criminal groups.
“We have to think from the gold economy. All Peruvian legislation is focused on those who extract the mineral, which are the most vulnerable link, but The most sustainable way of attacking the problem is who makes more money, from processing plants have almost null control to jewelry stores in Lima and the International Black Market”, Add the specialist.
With it, Zevallos agrees who warns that without simultaneous actions it will not be possible to stop the problem. The criminologist summarizes it like this: “The big question is how many fiscal files by criminal organizations have been developed to date? How much intelligence work has been done? How many bank accounts, properties and assets of organizations that operate in the area have been identified? What is the control of routes, explosives?
The Reinfo, created in 2017, has had more than multiple extensions. The last one, approved in November last year by Congress in the midst of serious criticism, gave him an extension of six months, until this June 2025, although with the possibility of a subsequent expansion if the executive is provided. This decision, which had the support of 87 congressmen, evidenced the political influences of informal miners that use the reinfill as a shield to operate without major difficulties, with illicit business that generates about US $ 6 billion a year. A study prepared by Videnza estimates that only 2.3% of the approximately 90,000 registered miners managed to formalize in the last seven years. In addition, an investigation of The trade That he reviewed the reimo systems, public records and the Public Ministry showed that there are miners with tax investigations and that, surprisingly, they have between 10 and 77 records.
