Since 2020, the province of Patazin the La Libertad region, it has become a scenario of extreme violence, driven by the progress of organized crime linked to illegal mining. What began as an attempt of informal miners for protecting their lives and cargoes, resulted in the positioning of powerful criminal organizations that, in a short time, took territorial control through extortion, massacres and armed clashes.
The most recent episode occurred last weekend: 13 mining workers were tortured, killed and calcined within a sinkhole, in one of the most heinous crimes recorded in the region. According to the Executive, the person responsible for this massacre would be Miguel Antonio Rodríguez Díaz, aka ‘Cuchillo’, current leaders of one of the most dangerous criminal organizations that operate in this convulsed mining area of La Libertad.
13 workers of the company R&R were killed in Pataz. Photo: Dissemination/ SYSTEM
The entire dispute over Pataz control would have started four years ago. Greco Quiroz Díaz, former president of the Energy and Mines Commission of the La Libertad region, explained that, after the outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemia, the price of gold rose considerably, which encouraged hundreds of informal miners to settle in the area with the sole purpose of extracting the precious mineral.
However, the transfer of gold to the processing plants represented a high risk. Although they had dumps and some organization, the miners were frequently assaulted during the journey. Faced with these constant attacks, they were forced to resort to criminal organizations that offered “security” under the Chalequeo modality: an extortion collection system of quotas in exchange for protection.
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With the passage of time, the criminals noticed that they could be an active part of the business and began to look for alliances with informal miners. Given the refusal of these and the peasant rondes, they opted for extreme measures.“They began to kill a lot of people with a right and pile”Quiroz said.
The consolidation of criminal gangs
By 2023, the situation worsened. Two criminal organizations that arrived from Trujillo were strengthened: ‘The Great alliance’, derived from the octopus, led by Josué Oliver Blas Lezama, aka ‘Cat Cote’, and ‘Los Parqueros de Pataz’, by Gregorio Segura Marcelo, aka ‘Palermo’. Both were aimed at controlling all the undercuts where gold was exploited.
Trujillanas criminal organizations lead in Pataz. Photo: Dissemination
With the advance of the conflict, a new violent modality emerged. According to the former president of the Energy and Mines Commission of the La Libertad region, groups composed of between 40 and 60 criminals, entered the undercuts where informal miners registered in the Reinfo system worked, attacked them with bullets and stole the mineral. “That is called the parkers, a group of 40 to 60 criminals who load the mineral in sacks, take it out and take it to an area where it can be treated,” Quiroz said.
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The main leaders fell last year: ‘Palermo’ was arrested, while ‘Cat Cote’ was killed that same year in Colombia, a country that fled after a strong blow of the Peruvian authorities against their organization. The first of them had generated a fortune of more than 80 million dollars as a result of illegal mining.
After the murder of ‘Cat Cote’ in Colombia, his lieutenants divided and formed new bands. The situation resulted in a fragmentation of organized crime in the area, with between 8 and 10 active organizations in Pataz, all with links with Trujillo and background in ‘The Great Alliance,’ said Quiroz.
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A report by the research unit of this newspaper, revealed that those who “inherited” these organizations were identified as: Porfirio Danilo Segura Marcelo, Nativity Baca Bazán, Miguel Antonio Rodríguez Díaz and Juan Manuel Blas Lezama.
Safe and Baca lead ‘Los Parqueros de Pataz’, while Rodríguez and Blas lead ‘the great alliance’. All these relatives of ‘Palermo’ and ‘Cato cat’. Both organizations are involved in illicit activities such as illegal extraction of gold, extortion, sicariato and illegal possession of arms.
A police source of this newspaper confirmed that ‘Cat Cote’ had a criminal presence for more than a decade. “After the murder of ‘Cat Cote’ in Colombia, ‘Cuchillo’ assumed the leadership of the organization ‘La Gran Alianza’,” said the source.
The heirs of illegal gold in Pataz
The subject known as ‘knife’, 34, is considered one of the most ruthless criminals within ‘the Great Alliance in Pataz’. According to sources of the investigation unit of this newspaper, he is responsible for the most violent incursions of Socavones and the death of four people in the El Río mine for 2024.
His main ally would be Juan Manuel Blas Lezama, 42, nicknamed ‘Juancho’. Despite having been captured in May of the previous year, a Parcoy judge, Carlos Garrido, left him under restricted appearance. It is suspected that Blas acts on behalf of his deceased brother, Joshua Blas, known as ‘Cat Cote’.
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The group known as ‘Los Parqueros de Pataz’ is linked to various crimes, including the murder of workers of the powerful mining company, the theft of mineral and the illegal possession of arms, according to the report of the El Comercio Research Unit.
On the other hand, Porfirio Segura Marcelo, 36, brother of ‘Palermo’, alias ‘Cachanga’, is indicated by the Prosecutor’s Office as the leader of this organization in the absence of his brother, coordinating the illegal activities related to mining in the area.
Meanwhile, Natividad Baca Bazán, aka ‘Naty’ or ‘El Perra’, serves as the partner or financier of ‘Los Parqueros de Pataz’. In a communication dated November 2023, ‘Naty’ requested the payment of a significant sum of money for “Los Tombos”, a term used in reference to bribes destined for the police.
war between bands and conflict expansion
The proliferation of Trujillanas criminal organizations in Pataz forced informal miners to seek security in foreign criminals, usually of Venezuelan and Colombian origin. However, the scheme was repeated and a war between Peruvian and foreign bands for the control of the territory, the undercuts and the gold began.
After the murder of 10 security agents of the powerful mining company, in 2023, informal miners resorted to another company to protect themselves within the mining concession. This is how they found the company R&R, which is not legalized or formalized, and whose main responsible are police officers. “As they have worked in Pataz, they know what organizations move in the area,” The former president of the Energy Commission and Mines of the La Libertad region explained. Precisely, this company would be linked to the 13 men who were kidnapped and recently killed by criminal organizations.
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According to Quiroz, criminals have implemented common graves to disappear the bodies of their victims. Sometimes they even use dynamite to eliminate any trace, while in others they simply bury them.
“That has generated that in Pataz operate between 8 to 10 criminal organizations. They all have an origin in Trujillo and also in what was the great alliance,” He warned.
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