Living in Peru : your everyday companion

This may not be surprising news to anybody. 87% of the population in Peru's capital consider it an unsafe city. One reason for this worrisome perception is surely the latest wave of kidnappings that whips the city and that has police authorities on their toes.

The gangs are rather unimpressed and continue to hunt down potentially lucrative pedestrians, even though the police has identified the preferred zones in the city where such crimes are being committed; all in all, thirty strategically and tactically important points mainly in the districts of San Borja and Surco. They are located within an area which main arteries are the avenues and streets of El Derby, Javier Prado, Velasco Astete, Angamos and around the borders of the Army Headquarters (Pentagonito).  


According to police officials, those places are chosen by the kidnappers not only because they are usually filled by industralists who live in La Molina, Surco and San Borja, but also because of easy and fast escape routes heading to the outer city limits.

The police focuses on these specific areas and initiated an operative plan called 'Cerco' or 'circling protection wall'. It includes a special surveillance not only by special police units equipped with patrol cars and SWAT vehicles, but also utilizing civil personnel and vehicles without any symbols. The main goal is not only prevention by deterrence but also to arrive at a crime scene as fast as possible to render immediate assistance. Every day, about 300 men in 50 vehicles are mobilized in these zones to avoid kidnapping cases or to resist them.

There are generally two different kind of kidnappings. The convential, typical scenario where victims are held for an extended period of time in exchange for ransom, and the so-called 'sequestros al paso' - the short-term kidnapping - where victims are held at gunpoint for a few hours and released after their debit- and credit card accounts were emptied at ATM's, cash machines and other occasions.

The operation had its first major success story on May 5, when they managed to capture Juan Carlos Ruiz Valencia (40) a.k.a 'Muñeco' (the doll), and four other delinquents who had committed five kidnappings up to this point. The suspects were armed heavily, an UZI submachine gun, a STAR pistol, two revolvers and two vehicles were seized as well during the capture.
The Cerco also succeeded in the quick arrest of two delinquents who are charged with the assassination of industrialist Lovatón Pizarro, after an obvious kidnapping attempt had failed in Miraflores.

Nevertheless to be successful, the monitoring of tactically important points has to be complemented with good investigation and intelligence work. In addition, agents need the right equipment and resources to sufficiently communicate with each other and pay informants.
“It must be a coordinated effort. The Peruvian Department of Corrections 'INPE', with the information of prisoners who leave the penitentiaries, and the Judicial Power, are also included in the process. Otherwise everything will end in failure”, Gen. Raul Loarte Ramos, ex-head of Investigation and Intelligence, said.

Loarte remembered that before there was much emphasis put on the work of criminal intelligence. Only after the Office of Intelligence (Ofinte) was created, the police managed to infiltrate and, subsequently, disintegrate the gangs.

However, according to the anti-kidnapping force, success in one area is usually short lived, because in the long run the kidnappers will try to avoid the heavily observed areas and will look for new stomping grounds with less risk where they continue to plagiarize their victims.

The police is also sending out a message to the citizenship to follow certain preventive guidelines to avoid the plagiarisms. A brochure named “Manual of Self-Protection from kidnappings” has been published.



tags : Peru Lima justice crime prevention kidnapping

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3 Comments

# lane rolling says :
24 May, 2006 [ 06:54 ]

Its got to get better. it is a shame that this happens...

# Nick Rosemeyer says :
25 May, 2006 [ 12:52 ]

These types of kidnapping have just arrived in Madrid, Spain. Three this week in one area of Madrid.

# Eddy Willems says :
25 May, 2006 [ 08:56 ]

It's a pitty this happens. The govrement and the police should do all to stop this. And do an effort for employement in Lima.

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