Dr. Yasmin Calmet

The killing of 13 workers at the La Poderosa mining company in Pataz, Peru last month is part of an escalation of violence against the backdrop of entrenching organized crime in Peru. According to official data from the Peruvian government, between 2023 and 2024 there were at least four similar massacres in mining areas, totaling 31 victims. These incidents reveal an operational pattern combining extortion, territorial control, and selective elimination, which are the hallmarks of increasingly sophisticated criminal organizations. Illegal mining, according to InSight Crime figures in 2024, generates $9 billion annually, and has surpassed drug trafficking as the country's most profitable criminal activity. It attracts transnational groups like Tren de Aragua and Los Lobos, who are complicit with Mexican and Colombian cartels.The violence goes well beyond the mining sector. Data from Lima's Chamber of Commerce (2024) reveals that 12,500 small and micro businesses closed their doors between 2022 and 2023 due to extortion. These criminal organizations operate through encrypted messaging apps to impose "protection fees," establishing a parallel criminal governance system that claimed the lives of 32 merchants in 2023 alone, according to the Interior Ministry. This infiltration of organized crime into Peru's formal economic fabric exposes the state's failure to provide basic security, fueling a vicious cycle of fear and eroding trust in institutions.Political ShortcomingsA fragmented and dysfunctional state structure exacerbates Peru's security crisis. The Pataz case illustrates this reality. The prime suspect in the massacre escaped through Jorge Chávez International Airport, exposing the lack of coordination between the National Police, the Superintendency of Migration, and the Public Prosecutor's Office. This lack of coordination is systemic. 2024 data from the Ministry of the Interior reveals that fewer than 15% of regional police units have interoperable information-sharing systems, hindering coordinated responses to organized crime.The stance of La Libertad Governor César Acuña exemplifies policy short-sightedness dominating Peru's security debate. By proposing a military base as the sole solution to the Pataz crisis, Acuña repeats a failed pattern, disregarding lessons from other Latin American contexts where militarization, without integrated intelligence strategies and territorial development, has proven ineffective.This reductive approach reflects a broader issue: the lack of political will to address the structural roots of crime, including endemic corruption and socioeconomic exclusion. Another critical obstacle is Peru's high informal economy rate, which prevents national and local institutions from tracking and identifying these groups' financial flows. This adds a new layer of challenge in the government’s efforts to combat extortion.The cross-border nature of organized crime further compounds these challenges. Groups like Tren de Aragua and Los Lobos operate within international networks, using Peru as a hub for illegal mining, drug trafficking, and money laundering. The state's failure to establish effective international cooperation mechanisms, whether for border control or financial tracking, leaves the country especially exposed to these criminal networks.The Human Cost The impacts of Peru's security crisis are devastating both economically and socially. Estimates from Confiep in 2023 indicate that organized crime costs Peru 3.5% of its annual GDP. This severely damages the mining, transportation, and commerce sectors. The psychological toll is equally alarming. A recent investigation by the Peruvian Studies Institute (IEP) revealed that 72% of Peruvians restrict their daily activities due to fear of violence. Meanwhile, 68% believe the state is incapable of protecting them. This widespread distrust erodes the legitimacy of democratic institutions. It is reflected in President Boluarte's mere 3.6% approval rating in March 2025. Overcoming this crisis demands a thorough restructuring of the security apparatus. First, it is essential to establish an integrated criminal intelligence system connecting municipalities, regions, and the national government to bridge communication gaps. Second, judicial reforms are needed to combat impunity and corruption, ensuring no crime goes unanswered. Third, clear cooperative frameworks must be created to confront transnational networks. Finally, territorial development policies must address the root causes of crime, such as economic exclusion and lack of alternatives to illegal mining.Without this multidimensional approach, Peru will remain trapped in a cycle of violence and instability, where massacres like Pataz become just another chapter in an endless crisis.Rethinking Security ParadigmsPeru's crisis demands a profound rethinking of conventional security strategies. The failure of strategies relying solely on militarized repression, exemplified by Governor Acuña's proposal for Pataz, underscores the need for a new paradigm. Regional experience shows that militarization, when divorced from strategic intelligence and social policies, tends to escalate violence while failing to address its root causes. Mexico's "war on drugs", with over 450,000 deaths in two decades, serves as a stark warning about the risks of such reductionist approaches.Peru has accumulated 23 years of failed attempts to formalize mining operations, a process undermined by resistance from informal miners themselves and by-laws that effectively legitimize illegal mining and criminal groups. Constant deadline extensions until 2027 coupled with progressively relaxed environmental requirements have created a regulatory gap that fosters impunity. This perverse dynamic explains why informal mining remains the economic pillar of criminal networks like those responsible for the Pataz massacres.Widespread violence, coupled with declining public trust in institutions and the shortcomings of existing security policies, contributes to a cycle that gradually weakens Peru’s democratic foundations. When the state struggles to uphold its fundamental duty of protecting citizens, whether due to inefficiencies, corruption, or institutional fragmentation, the foundations of the social contract begin to erode. In such an environment, narratives promising order and stability may gain traction, even if they risk undermining civil and political liberties. While these approaches may offer short-term relief, they also carry the potential to weaken democratic institutions and replace unlawful violence with overly centralized or unchecked state authority.

How Illegal Mining is Becoming Peru’s Most Profitable Crime