The figures contained in the document “Intelligence Assessment 262-2024-Q7R3”, from the Intelligence Directorate (Dirin) of the National Police of Peru (PNP), suggest that the trafficking of weapons and ammunition from Tumbes to increased during 2023.

According to the report, prepared recently and accessed by El Comercio, the largest amount of ammunition confiscated in 2023 was recorded in the border region. If in 2022 there were 2,832 ammunition seized in Tumbes, the figure rose to 391,239 in 2023. That is, it increased by more than 13,000%. What was seized in police interventions in the region represented 92% of the total at the national level. In the rest of the country there were only 32,607 ammunition seized.

Almost 42% of the ammunition confiscated in Tumbes and other regions corresponds to 16 millimeter caliber projectiles, which are used exclusively for long-range weapons such as shotguns. This last type of weapon would be used by gangs that protect and transport drugs, according to the police report.

The report considers that Tumbes is “a strategic place” for criminal groups. “It is an important transit area for arms and ammunition trafficking, criminal organizations […] “They would take advantage of the unauthorized steps and the lack of police control.”

In the border area

Another report (“Intelligence Appraisal 010-2024-L8B1-E5-A”), dated January 12, indicates that, during 2023, 375 firearms were seized in the border regions with Ecuador, which is a increase compared to 2022 (311). Loreto, Tumbes and Piura register the highest number: 151, 89 and 71 weapons, respectively. Almost all of them are pistols, revolvers or shotguns.

The document indicates that in Tumbes alone the PNP has identified “48 unauthorized border crossings.” These would be used for “weapons trafficking and smuggling.”

Neighbor report

In November of last year, the then Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso prepared “Strategies against organized crime 2023-2030,” a document with which his government sought to combat criminal groups in the country. The report recognizes that the criminal gangs that control drug trafficking and gold exploitation were strengthened with arms trafficking that began in Peru and Chile.

The strategy indicates that weapons and ammunition pass through Tumbes before reaching Ecuador. “The traffic follows the route from Tumbes to Zarumilla until it reaches Machala (capital of the province of El Oro) and collection and distribution centers for weapons that reach the provinces of Guayas, Santa Elena, Los Ríos, Manabí and Esmeraldas” .

Another arms route is through the Ecuadorian provinces of Loja and Zamora to “Baños in the province of Tungurahua. This enclave is the nexus for distribution in Pichincha and later Tulcán and Lago Agrio”, which are border cities with Colombia.

According to the document, weapons pass from Peru to Ecuador through “unauthorized passages” and, to a lesser extent, through police and immigration controls through people who travel with mules, trucks transporting goods, cars or motorcycles, modalities known as “tingling”.

Arturo Torres, an Ecuadorian journalist who investigates organized crime in his country, points out that police and military intelligence reports confirm that more than 80% of smuggled weapons enter through Peru.

“The logistics to arm the gangs comes from Peru through those criminal chains that exist on that binational border,” he assured.

Former head of the Dirandro PNP is implicated in drug trafficking case #VideosEC #UI
Former head of the Police Anti-Drug Directorate is implicated in a drug trafficking case.



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