Peru second in Latin American ranking of countries losing battle against drug trafficking
67% of Peruvians believe their country is losing the battle against organised crime, according to the 2026 Latinobarómetro. Only Chile surpasses this figure in the region.
Peru, second-to-last in fight against organised crime according to 2026 Latinobarómetro
67% of Peruvians consider that their country is losing the battle against drug trafficking and organised crime, according to larepublica.pe citing the 2026 Latinobarómetro report. This figure places Peru in second place in Latin America, behind only Chile (68%).
Ecuador occupies the third position with 60% affirmative responses to the same question, followed by Brazil with 54%.
The inverse perception is equally stark: when asked whether the country is winning the battle against organised crime, only 6% of Peruvians answered yes. This percentage places the country in the last place in the region, tied with Chile.
Power of organised crime, a widespread perception
The study reveals that 90% of Peruvians believe that organised crime has "much" or "considerable" power in the country, placing Peru in second place regionally, behind Costa Rica.
On a continental scale, the report states that "79% of Latin Americans believe it has 'much/considerable' power". The exception is El Salvador, where only 28% share this perception.
The document adds that in several countries of the so-called Shield of the Americas—including Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Honduras and the Dominican Republic—the mention of organised crime presence in the immediate surroundings of citizens increased between 2020 and 2026.
Local presence and fear of victimisation
38% of Peruvians stated that they knew or had heard that in their area there is presence of some criminal group.
Regarding fear of becoming a victim of a crime, 66% of Peruvians declared that they worry "all or almost all the time" or "sometimes". This percentage places the country in fifth place in the region, below Chile, Ecuador, Brazil and Mexico. Only 33% answered that they never or only occasionally think about it.
On direct victimisation, 32% of Peruvians indicated having suffered an assault or aggression, or knowing a family member who had suffered one, placing Peru in second place in the regional ranking.
Homicides in the first months of Fujimori's government
Nearly two months into Keiko Fujimori's government, Peru registered 267 homicides between 28 July and 14 September. According to an analysis by data specialist Juan Carbajal, based on records from the National Computer System of Deaths (Sinadef), the actual figure would be around 300 cases across the country.
The technical report details that the main cause of these deaths is the use of firearms: 196 of the 267 victims died from gunshot wounds, representing 73.4% of the total.
The regions with the highest proportion of deaths by firearm are Piura (90.5%), Ica (90%), La Libertad (89.7%), Callao (83.3%) and Lima (81.1%).
Source: Google News PE — Crime