The Criminal Creep of Ecuador's Gangs Into Peru
by Gavin Voss
25 Feb 2025
As unknown men marched through a rural indigenous community in Peru’s Amazonian province of Condorcanqui, residents looked on with a mix of confusion and surprise.
One of the men held what appeared to be a shovel, while another carried a sack over his shoulders as the group descended a hill through the community, a January 17 Facebook video from a local development organization shows. The men were heavily armed, alleged another post from the organization, showing high-powered rifles the community seized from the group.
Days after the post, Francisco Yampis, a mayor of another town in Condorcanqui, which lies on Peru’s border with Ecuador, said it was the Choneros, one of Ecuador’s largest criminal groups, who’d crossed the border.
“They’ve entered more than 30 kilometers [into Peru],” Yampis said on Peruvian radio show Exitosa, noting the group’s illegal mining interests in the area.
The Choneros’ purported invasion in Condorcanqui, laden with uncertainty, is representative of Ecuadorian groups’ shadowy — and largely unconfirmed — presence in Peru.
Still, various factors ranging from the pull of Peru’s criminal economies like drug trafficking and illegal mining, to the push of Ecuador’s security crackdown mean Peru could prove fertile ground for Ecuadorian criminal groups to expand their presence in other countries.
More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/the-criminal-creep-of-ecuadors-gangs-into-peru/