Overview
- Police arrested Captain Gary Brian Chiroque Barreno in flagrante when he collected money that a businessman had reported as extortion during a controlled-delivery operation on Thursday, June 18.
- Officers had recorded the serial numbers of the bills before the handover and recovered two envelopes of cash after Chiroque tried to discard them and resisted detention.
- Investigators seized the captain’s phone and found WhatsApp messages in which he demanded monthly payments and threatened surveillance using intelligence assets and a drone.
- The detainee told police that some superiors knew about irregular operations and specifically named Colonel José Avellaneda, a claim prosecutors say must be corroborated through further inquiry.
- Chiroque was flown to Trujillo and placed at the disposal of the anti-corruption prosecutor while forensic analysis of phones and documents continues and authorities consider widening the probe in a province long troubled by organized crime and illegal mining.