{"id":11687,"date":"2026-06-02T20:01:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T20:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11687"},"modified":"2026-06-02T20:01:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T20:01:58","slug":"fear-shadows-perus-runoff-vote-as-extortion-and-killings-surge-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11687","title":{"rendered":"Fear shadows Peru\u2019s runoff vote as extortion and killings surge nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

By FRANKLIN BRICE\u00d1O and RODRIGO ABD<\/strong><\/p>\n

TRUJILLO, Peru (AP) \u2014 In a desert area along northwestern Peru\u2019s Pacific coast, Gladys Saavedra eyed with suspicion the strangers who arrive at the small market where she works alongside a group of women who, despite meager sales, must collectively give $300 a month to extortionists or risk paying an even higher price.<\/p>

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The market in Trujillo was set on fire last June when the women refused to give in to threats. Days later, they marched, demanding protection from authorities. Nothing changed. But that didn\u2019t surprise Saavedra, as police had failed her in August 2024, when her house was attacked with explosives in another extortion attempt.<\/p>\n

That level of violence by Peruvian gangs is the main concern for voters who will elect a new president in a runoff election Sunday. Many will leave their homes to vote fearful of becoming crime victims again during their trip to the polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t even stick your head out for fear of being shot,\u201d Saavedra, 49, said.<\/p>\n

Illegal gold mining fuels organized crime<\/h4>\n

The first extortion cases reported in Trujillo took place more than 20 years ago, but the crime has spread throughout Peru in the last five years. During that period, extortion complaints increased fivefold, reaching 28,948 cases last year, while killings doubled, reaching 2,226 in 2025, according to official data.<\/p>\n

Police and security experts attribute the expansion of criminal gangs in Trujillo to their involvement in illegal gold mining. They say the gangs initially profited by providing security to illegal gold miners in a nearby town, then used the proceeds to hire hitmen, buy weapons and strengthen their presence in the city.<\/p>\n

According to official data, illegal mining generates approximately $7 billion annually, much more than the roughly $1.2 billion generated annually by drug trafficking.<\/p>

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The first victims of extortion were public transportation companies, whose drivers were killed if payment was not made. Transportation workers continue to be targeted, with at least 239 drivers killed last year across the country, according to the independent Observatory of Crime and Violence.<\/p>\n

Of those killed, more than half were motorcycle taxi drivers, widely used on the outskirts of cities where roads are often unpaved. But it has been the murders of bus drivers that have triggered transportation strikes and protests.<\/p>\n

Experts attribute the increasing power of organized crime in Peru to the profits that decades-old criminal groups are earning from illegal gold mining in the Andes and the Amazon. In 2025, Peru exported 100 tons of illegally mined gold, nearly matching the 109 tons of legally mined gold it exported.<\/p>\n

Even schools are crime targets<\/h4>\n

In a Trujillo neighborhood where a quarter of the country\u2019s footwear is manufactured, union leader M\u00e1ximo Varas said that around 1,500 small business owners in that industry pay extortionists to be able to work.<\/p>

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\u201cEveryone pays \u2014 even I get extorted. No one is safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Across Trujillo, several buses, restaurants, corner stores, nightclubs and even schools have stickers on their facades, including of a puma, a cross and a Batman logo. Police said the stickers indicate that the businesses have paid extortion fees. Authorities sometimes go around Trujillo removing those stickers and replacing them with ones from law enforcement.<\/p>

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For businessman Iv\u00e1n D\u00edaz, 58, violence has increased \u201cunreasonably\u201d in Trujillo. In 2023, he was kidnapped for 11 days by criminals dressed as police officers who dragged him from his office. To obtain a $250,000 ransom, his captors cut off part of two fingers on his right hand and sent videos of the torture to his family to \u201cadvance the payment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to adapt to reality and keep a cool head,\u201d D\u00edaz said.<\/p>\n

In May, the courts sentenced four members of the criminal group Los Pulpos, which emerged in Trujillo in the 1990s and later expanded to neighboring Chile, to life imprisonment for D\u00edaz\u2019s kidnapping.<\/p>\n