Peru's Interior Minister, César Astudillo, supervised a joint operation by the National Police and the armed forces on Friday as part of the launch of Plan Escudo, a strategy meant to reinforce security at public transport depots and counter extortion attacks against the sector.
The plan combines the operational and intelligence capabilities of the National Police of Peru (PNP) and the armed forces, with criminal investigation units working to dismantle networks dedicated to extortion and sicariato, or contract killing, mainly in Metropolitan Lima and Callao and in other cities inland.
Coordinated operations have been under way since last Saturday, joining the Army, the Peruvian Air Force, the Navy, the PNP and the Public Prosecutor's Office. The goal is not only to capture criminals but to strike at the financial and logistical base of criminal gangs, pursuing illicit income and support networks to weaken their capacity for intimidation.
Astudillo said Plan Escudo brings together the armed forces and the National Police within the areas of responsibility set out by the Constitution. He said there are around 14 maneuvering yards, and that all of them would have police and Army presence, adding that the relevant actions had already been taken. He made the remarks in Villa María del Triunfo.
Financial and intelligence tracking
The minister confirmed the plan includes permanent, integrated intelligence work aimed at gathering timely information to prevent possible threats and attacks against buses and transport companies. He described a form of financial intelligence that tracks money routes and illegal logistics networks in order to dismantle digital and prison-based extortion structures.
Technical location tools and patrols in critical urban and rural areas will be paired with counterintelligence work to screen personnel and prevent leaks of reserved operational information to criminal groups, according to the report. Astudillo said police and armed forces intelligence would act permanently, which he said gives authorities the certainty to anticipate criminal movements.
Astudillo was joined by PNP Commander General Óscar Arriola and the chief of the Lima Police Region, General Jorge Castillo, to visit several maneuvering yards used by public transport companies in southern Lima to verify implementation of the plan. Astudillo said the broad intelligence deployment under way would allow authorities to keep capturing those responsible for the crimes and to strengthen security.
