Thirteen workers linked to one of the great mining companies of Peru were found dead Within a gold mine in Pataz, in the northwest of the country, days after their kidnapping were denounced in that place, the company and authorities reported on Sunday.
Mining is a key economic driver in Peru, one of the largest gold producers in Latin America. Pataz, located about 900 kilometers from the capital Lima, has been in a state of emergency since February 2024 due to the escalation of violence caused by gold fever.
“This morning, after intense search work, the police rescue team could recover the bodies of the 13 workers who were kidnapped (…) by illegal miners colluded with criminal elements, ”said the powerful mining company in a statement, in whose facilities the events occurred.
The victims were workers of a company that provided services to Powerful, an important mining company that lies in the Lima Stock Exchange, which in recent months has been the target of armed groups related to illegal mining.
The bodies of the workers were transferred out of the mine on Monday. While images disseminated by the police show the troops exploring the dark undercuts with the help of flashlights and ropes.
The government of President Dina Boluarte ordered the deployment of elite teams specialized in organized crime and investigation divisions to capture those responsible.
“Our agents (…) are fully empowered to use their firearms if circumstances merit it, in strict compliance with the current legal framework,” said the Ministry of Interior in a statement.
“We have to recover governance, order and peace in Pataz (…). What is happening there is unacceptable, ”said Jorge Luis Montero, Minister of Energy and Mines, to RPP radio.
According to powerful, “Already 39 collaborators, artisanal miners and their workers killed by criminal gangs who have taken control ”of the town. La Minera made an“ urgent call ”to rethink the government’s security strategy.
The “spiral of uncontrolled violence that Pataz lives occurs despite the statement of the state of emergency and the presence of an important police contingent that, unfortunately, has not been able to stop the deterioration of security conditions in the area,” he emphasized.
“We have to recover governance, order and peace in Pataz (…). We are going to catch them all, ”said Jorge Luis Montero, Minister of Energy and Mines, RPP radio.
“My brother has already tortured and killed them.
In the city of Trujillo, nine hours west, The relatives of some deceased expected the transfer of the bodies to the morgue of that town. “We want justice, that this is not just there,” Channel N Abraham Domínguez, father of DereitriGuez, one of the killed, told the television television.
The mayor of Pataz, Aldo Carlos, said that on Monday he will meet with President Boluarte to find solutions to insecurity. “I have been raising a loud voice, I am not unruly, but what happens in my town (…) if they get into jail or kill me, the sole responsible will be the central government,” he said, upset.
Between 2013 and 2023, the Financial Intelligence Unit of Peru identified operations for 8,241 million dollars suspected of coming from illegal mining. The country lives a wave of extortion and violent crime which has led the authorities to decree the state of emergency in various parts of the country.
