Peruvian police have detained a woman in connection with the February murder of the vice president of the northern region of Amazonas, local media have reported.
Nancy Delgado, 39, was detained by police on suspicion that she may be the person who planned the killing of Augusto Wong, Radioprogramas reported.
Delgado denied involvement in the killing, saying it is a “misunderstanding.”
Wong, who was also a physician, was gunned down in his private clinic in February. An underage hit man was arrested by police, although the person who ordered the killing had not been detained.
“I’m innocent,” Delgado said. “Yes, I knew the doctor because he operated on my mother. He was very good. He was the doctor of the poor, but I have nothing to do with this. I think there is a misunderstanding.”
“I have nothing to do with him, or with the people who ordered him killed,” she added.
Police Col. Jorge Linares said there was an arrest warrant issued for Delgado, who allegedly belongs to a gang called Los Sanguinarios de Bagua, roughly translated as “The Bloodthirsty from Bagua.”
“She has a lot to explain,” Linares said.
Wong’s death is one of several killings of municipal and regional government officials in the provinces. The killings have raised alarms about the lack of security, even for high-ranking government officials.
