Los Pulpos, a criminal gang operating in the northern Peruvian city of Trujillo, sent a video to merchants at a city market last weekend warning them that extortion payments must continue despite the recent capture of the group's alleged leader.
The video, which circulated widely on social media, showed an armed man surrounded by firearms and ammunition telling vendors that nothing would change and that they still had to pay.
According to the video, the man said market administrators, merchants and street vendors across Trujillo should know that the weekly payment of two soles would continue as before. He warned directors not to be fooled, saying the only people entitled to collect the money were Jhon Pulpo, a man referred to as "doctor" Miller, a nephew identified as Oscar, and a man known as Pepe Tolete.
Gang's new leadership
Jhon Pulpo and his brother Miller are reportedly poised to take over leadership of Los Pulpos following the capture of the group's alleged ringleader, Johnson Cruz. Los Pulpos is one of several extortion rings that have spread fear among small business owners and street vendors in Trujillo, a coastal city that is the capital of the La Libertad region and Peru's third largest urban area. In recent years the city has been repeatedly hit by gangs collecting so-called "cupos", or protection payments, from markets, transport operators and informal traders, often enforcing demands with threats of violence.
Leader's capture in Bolivia
Jhonsson Smit Cruz Torres, known as "Jhonsson Pulpo" and identified as the head of Los Pulpos, was captured on 1 September 2026 in La Paz, Bolivia, after spending several years as a fugitive. He was the subject of an Interpol red notice, an international alert asking police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person pending extradition, and a reward of 500,000 soles had been offered for information leading to his capture. He had already been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a female merchant in Trujillo.
Held in Lima pending transfer
After being expelled from Bolivia and flown to Lima, Cruz Torres was placed in the custody of Peru's National Police at the headquarters of the Directorate Against Terrorism, known as Dircote, a police unit originally created to combat terrorism that now also handles cases involving organized crime. He remains held there temporarily while authorities coordinate with the National Penitentiary Institute, known as INPE, to transfer him to the prison where he is to serve the life sentence handed down by Peruvian courts.
