THIRTEEN security guards kidnapped from a major gold mine were discovered dead after being held hostage for a week.
Security personnel have gone missing in the mountains near Pataz, northern Peru, amid a violent mining conflict.
The group was sent out to confront a group of illegal miners in the area, but they were attacked and abducted.
Throughout the week, the gang sent threats to the victims’ families.
La Poderosa, the mining company that employed the workers, said search and rescue teams found their remains on Sunday.
The business tweeted: “This morning , after intense search efforts, the police rescue team was able to recover the bodies of the 13 workers who were kidnapped […] by illegal miners in collusion with criminal element.”
Further, it stated: “The spiral of uncontrolled violence in Pataz is occurring despite the declaration of a state of emergency and the presence of a large police contingent which, unfortunately, has not been able to halt the deterioration of security conditions in the area.”
Peru’s interior ministry said organized crime investigators were looking into the deaths and vowed its agents were “fully empowered to use their firearms if the circumstances warranted it”.
Some of the victims’ relatives waited for their loved ones’ bodies to be transferred to the morgue in Trujillo, located west of Pataz.
Abraham Dominguez, whose son Alexander was discovered dead, told channel Canal N, “We want justice, that this does not end here.”
Peru declared a state of emergency last month in response to a surge in violent crime, with the mining industry serving as a particularly dangerous battleground.
Since it began operations in Pataz in the 1980s, La Poderosa has lost 39 workers to criminal groups fighting for control of the mines in the area.
In December 2023, illegal miners used explosives to attack the same site, killing nine and injuring at least 20 others.
A gang armed with explosives and other weapons broke into the mine, kidnapping four people.
Bodies recovered from outside the mine showed signs of burns caused by explosive device detonations.
The attackers stormed the mine, “violently confronting internal security personnel from the company,” Peru’s interior ministry said at the time.
Following the attack, at least seven people were arrested, and weapons were seized.
In response to the recent attacks, La Poderosa increased the number of security guards.
Following the 2023 assault, Angela Grossheim, the head of the mining industry group SNMPE, stated: “Formal mining is being attacked.
“Illegal mining today is the country’s main illicit activity, even bigger than drug trafficking.”
Peru is a major gold and copper supplier in the world.
It has an unusual tolerance for illegal miners, allowing them to operate with some safeguards as they seek to legalize their operations.
Illegal mining grew into a profitable industry as metals became more valuable and new mining techniques emerged.
The Peruvian government has struggled to respond, and turf wars are becoming more lawless.
