Police arrested 124 people Sunday in a raid on a hotel near the beach resort of Punta Negra, 47 km south of Lima.
The hotel, under surveillance before the raid, was allegedly being used an operations base for crimes committed in different parts of Lima, the police said. Police seized weapons, ammunition, synthetic drugs, six vehicles and a number of smartphones. The raid was carried out as a party was underway at the hotel.
Most of those arrested — 80 men and 44 women— are Venezuelan citizens but the group also includes Colombians and several Peruvians, including the hotel staff. The 80 men and 44 women face charges of illegal possession of weapons, drug trafficking and prostitution.
Investigations continue into their individual involvement in a recent spate of thefts and assaults in different parts of Lima. These include violent incidents in which two tourists, separately, were robbed of their Rolex watches at different hotels, and this past week the theft of a mobile phone and the murder of its owner in a MacDonald’s restaurant in a shopping mall in the district of Lince. Police are also investigating possible links with the gruesome murder and dismemberment several months ago of two young men in San Martin de Porres in east Lima, which was believed to have been a justice killing.
Interior minister Carlos Morán said his office would be coordinating with Immigration to reactivate the Safe Immigration plan in order to deport most of the felons. Others with clear proof of crimes will be tried in court.
Over the past three years or so, 860,000 Venezuelans have settled in Peru, fleeing from the harsh political and economic conditions under the Maduro regime.
“We recognize that the majority have arrived in the country to make a better future for themselves, fleeing a government in crisis, and they have been welcomed in the country. Many have joined in economic activity legally but delinquents have also crossed the border,” Moran said. Despite the routine border control, many of the foreigners give false information to enter Peru, Moran added.
Theft and similar crimes have always been more violent in Venezuela and Colombia, compared with Peru and other neighboring countries. But according to a BBC report today from Venezuela, violent deaths have dropped in that country over the past four years — more than 16,500 people died violently in 2019, and although that figure is high, it shows a drop of more than 36% compared to 2018.
The non-governmental Venezuelan Observatory on Violence , OVV, believes the economy has changed the way delinquents operate, killing less. But perhaps they’ve all just moved south.
“The non-governmental Venezuelan Observatory on Violence , OVV, believes the economy has changed the way delinquents operate, killing less. But perhaps they’ve all just moved south” This is the essence of the problem. Maduro has emptied his prisons, and sent the gang-bangers, murderers, rapists and just plain thieves…..to Perú.
We have always had robberies, gang violence, etc., it’s the way life is everywhere in the world…..but NOT with THIS level of VIOLENCE. Peruvians wouldn’t kill you THEN rob you……they’d either grab what was foolishly being carried in your hand….or demand your valuables. There were seldom any shootings of victims, UNTIL….the Venezuelans arrived. NOW it is commonplace.