The government of Peru has enacted a night-time curfew in Pataz province following the tragic deaths of 13 mine workers who were kidnapped last week.
President Dina Boluarte has issued an order to suspend mining activities for one month, coinciding with the deployment of additional police and military personnel to the area.
The recent incident has brought attention to the operations of criminal gangs in Pataz.
La Poderosa, the Peruvian company that operates the gold mine where the men were employed, reported that they were abducted by “illegal miners colluding with criminals” on April 26. Authorities discovered the bodies on Sunday.
President Boluarte announced that the armed forces would assume “full control of the La Poderosa mining area.”
La Poderosa reported that a total of 39 individuals associated with the company had lost their lives at the hands of criminal gangs in Pataz, a mining area located over 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of Lima, the capital.
The report indicated that the state of emergency in place in the province since February 2024 has had minimal impact.
“Despite the declaration of a state of emergency and the deployment of a significant police presence, the spiral of uncontrolled violence in Pataz continues unabated, highlighting the failure to improve security conditions in the region,” stated the announcement from May 2.
On Sunday, authorities discovered the bodies of 13 men who were employed by R&R, a subcontractor associated with La Poderosa’s mining operations.
A team was dispatched to confront a group that had launched an attack and taken control of the mine. However, they were ambushed and captured while attempting to reclaim the site.
Footage released by the captors depicted individuals bound and unclothed, positioned within a mine shaft.
The release of the footage, coupled with the captors’ decision to share it with the victims’ families in a bid to secure ransom payments, has sparked significant outrage across Peru.
The revelation of their bodies on Sunday, coupled with forensic evidence indicating they were shot at close range over a week before their discovery, has deepened the sense of shock in the community.
In a statement to local media, prosecutor Luis Guillermo Bringas highlighted the ongoing conflict in the region, describing it as “a war for mining pits” involving illegal miners and criminals opposing legal miners.
