Overview

• The bodies of 13 security guards abducted from the La Poderosa gold mine on April 26 were recovered on May 4, with evidence pointing to illegal miners and criminal gangs as perpetrators.
• President Dina Boluarte announced a 30-day suspension of mining in Pataz, alongside a nightly curfew and the establishment of a military base to restore order in the violence-stricken region.
• Organized crime investigators have been deployed with shoot-to-kill authority to identify and apprehend those responsible for the killings, which bring the total number of La Poderosa workers killed since 1980 to 39.
• The Pataz region has been under a state of emergency due to escalating violence tied to illegal gold mining, which has flourished under regulatory gaps that allow informal miners conditional protections.
• Illegal gold mining in Peru has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, rivaling drug trafficking in profitability and contributing to widespread criminal activity and violence.