Overview
- The armed attack occurred on Monday, Oct. 6, in the Santa María–Beta Briana sector at level 2410 of a bocamina inside Compañía Minera Poderosa’s concession and left two people dead and two seriously wounded.
- Police identified the dead as private security agents Jherwin Cachique Ishuiza and Marcial Ojanama González and said the two wounded were evacuated to Trujillo for specialized care after first aid on site.
- Minera Poderosa says the area was assigned to an artisanal miner under contract with the company and condemned the attack as an expression of organized illegal mining.
- Authorities are investigating possible clashes with criminal groups or an attempt to seize personnel or production, and reports say suspects fled into surrounding mountains where police and military units are conducting searches.
- The incident has renewed industry and company demands that the government boost resources for the Comando Unificado de Pataz (CUPAZ), the National Police and the armed forces to protect formal mining and curb violent illegal extraction, a persistent problem in the remote La Libertad highlands.