Overview
- Penitentiary officials said inmate Rolando Gerónimo Mateo escaped Huánuco prison on January 1 by scaling tower No. 11 after multiple external posts were left without police personnel.
- INPE reported that towers T1, T3, T5, T8, T10, T11 and T12 lacked PNP staffing, and it notified the National Police and the Public Ministry to launch a search and open a criminal inquiry.
- Police confirmed three people were killed on December 31 at the Papagayo bocamina in Pataz, identifying the victims as Pilar Eduardo Acosta, Marcelino Ramos and Teodulio Ramos.
- Investigators collected 11 shell casings, transferred the bodies to Trujillo for autopsies, assigned ballistics to Depincri in Huamachuco, and reported two detainees as a preliminary homicide probe began.
- Local and expert accounts link the Pataz violence to illegal mining disputes during a prolonged state of emergency, with the mayor citing 49 killings in 2025 and analysts noting rising illegal gold exports.