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Peru Deploys Military Around Five High‑Risk Prisons Under 60‑Day Emergency

The move seeks to cut prison-based criminal command by sealing external perimeters with military support in a new intelligence-led strategy.

Overview

  • The government declared a 60-day state of emergency for the prisons Challapalca, Cochamarca, Castro Castro, Trujillo (El Milagro) and Ancón I, which officials announced Saturday to allow rapid security measures.
  • A newly published Supreme Decree (No. 128-2026-PCM) authorizes the Armed Forces to support the National Police in monitoring and protecting external perimeters up to 200 meters from prison walls.
  • Defense teams have begun field reconnaissance at Trujillo Varones (El Milagro) to mark troop positions and install a military post as part of coordinated perimeter controls with the PNP.
  • Inspections at El Milagro found serious entry-control gaps: three baggage scanners and a body-scan machine have been inoperative for years, undermining efforts to stop phones, SIM cards and contraband.
  • The Justice Ministry named Abraham Lescano Salazar as INPE president to steer an intelligence-first approach, but officials say technical repairs, inmate reclassification and anti-corruption checks inside prisons must follow for the strategy to work.