Peru bans mining in north after gangs kill 13 workers

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Monday announced a 30-day ban on mining in Peru’s northern Pataz province, the day after 13 mining workers were found dead. The Peruvian armed forces will seize complete control of the mining area, and the ban could be extended, Boluarte said.

The 13 deceased workers were found Sunday after being kidnapped about a week earlier, the Poderosa mining company said. Criminals associated with illegal mining operations abducted and killed the men in the Pataz province, the company said. A police rescue team found the bodies after an intense search. The deceased worked for a gold mining company under a Poderosa contract, according to Poderosa.

The workers were hired as security guards. Their bodies were undergoing autopsies to determine cause of death at a morgue in Trujillo, west of Pataz, according to the Andina news agency. The criminals allegedly shot the workers dead inside a mine after reportedly demanding ransoms from their families, according to the Ara news agency.

Poderosa blamed the Peruvian government for failing to sufficiently crack down on illegal mining operations, despite the government having mobilized more than 800 officers in the Pataz province recently. Thirty-nine miners and company workers have died in gang attacks, the company said. Criminals associated with illegal mining have also forced Poderosa to abandon several mining projects, the company said.

Other than the temporary ban, what is the Peruvian government doing to combat illegal mining and violence? Boluarte said the Peruvian armed forces would establish a military base in Pataz. The government would also introduce a bill against urban terrorism, she said.

The Minister of the Interior, Julio Díaz Zulueta, and National Police commander General Víctor Zanabria Angulo also traveled to the Pataz area to strategize with local police, the Ministry of the Interior said Sunday. Police planned to pursue and capture the criminals responsible, the statement said.