Peru declares state of emergency in Alto Nanay over illegal mining and organised crime
The Peruvian Government decreed 60 days of state of emergency in the Amazonian district of Alto Nanay, with police and armed forces deployed against criminal networks.
State of emergency in the Peruvian Amazon amid organised crime advance
The Government of Peru decreed a 60-day state of emergency on Wednesday in the district of Alto Nanay, province of Maynas, region of Loreto, according to elperiodista.cl. The measure responds to the advance of illegal mining, organised crime and other sources of violence in that Amazonian zone.
The decision was formalised through Supreme Decree No. 136-2026-PCM. The text establishes that the National Police will maintain control of internal order with the operational support of the Armed Forces.
Formal request from Police Command
The General Command of the Police presented the formal request on 16 September, based on reports from the National Directorate of Order and Security and the Police Region of Loreto. Those documents accredited the presence and activity of organisations linked to illegal mining, related offences, common delinquency and organised crime in the territory.
During the validity of the state of emergency, constitutional rights relating to the inviolability of the home, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and personal freedom and security may be restricted or suspended.
Expanded operational powers
The authorities are empowered to carry out identity checks, searches for persons sought by justice, vehicle inspections and operations to seize illegal weapons, ammunition and explosives. The decree also contemplates interventions against regulated chemical inputs and immigration controls to verify the status of foreign nationals.
Mass public events will require prior authorisation from the authorities; smaller-scale activities may be carried out without that requirement. The specific areas of intervention will be determined by the Police based on intelligence information, statistics and crime maps.
Once the emergency period concludes, the Police will have five working days to submit to the Interior Ministry a report with the results of operations and institutional recommendations.
Context: illegal mining and territorial control
Alto Nanay is located in the vast Amazonian region of Loreto, where the difficulty in exercising territorial control facilitates the activity of criminal networks. Illegal mining has become one of the main security and environmental problems facing various zones of the Peruvian Amazon.
The incorporation of the Armed Forces seeks to expand the operational capacity of the State in a territory of difficult access, where illegal activities are often combined with other offences associated with organised crime.
Simultaneous measures in other regions
The measure in Alto Nanay is part of a broader pattern of states of emergency activated by the Peruvian Executive. In parallel, the Government extended the state of emergency in the provinces of Zarumilla and Tumbes, on the northern border with Ecuador, for a further 60 days, also aimed at containing crime and violence.
Since 23 September, the exceptional measure has also been extended in the provinces of Trujillo, Virú and Chepén, in the region of La Libertad, an area affected by criminal organisations and violence. To this is added the extension of the state of emergency in districts of Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Junín and Cusco, including sectors of the VRAEM and corridors linked to the transport of Camisea gas, where remnants of Shining Path, drug trafficking and related threats persist.
The succession of decrees reflects the Peruvian Government's strategy of resorting to the joint deployment of police and military forces to recover territorial control in zones affected by different expressions of organised crime.
Source: Google News PE — Crime