Peru: Police attacked in VRAEM region May 31

Event

Two police officers were killed in an ambush carried out againsta patrol convoy in the district of Luricocha (Ayacucho region) on Wednesday, May 31. Drug traffickers, potentially linked with remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla group, are suspected of carrying out the attack as revenge for recent seizures of cocaine and weapons by security forces in the area. The incident occurred on Route 3, the highway linking the provinces of Luricocha and Huanta.

Context

Ayacucho forms part of the VRAEM region (made up of parts of Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Cuzco, and Junín), which had been largely ignored by the state until 2006, allowing crime groups to thrive (and allowing poverty rates to remain extremely high). According to the United Nations, one third of the cocaine produced worldwide comes from this area, up to 400 tons per year according to estimates by the local anti-drug entity Devida; some 20 tons of drugs have been seized by the government here since the beginning of 2017. 

Advice

Due to the presence of various armed groups, many Western governments advise against all travel to the VRAEM region, as well as the Huánuco region and areas along the Colombian border.