The bodies of 13 workers at a major Peruvian gold mine were found on Sunday, a week after the men were kidnapped, as the South American country grapples with a surge in illegal mining and criminal violence.
Poderosa, the Peruvian company that owns and operates the mine in the northwestern city of Pataz, confirmed the deaths of the guards after a police search and rescue unit recovered their bodies.
“Poderosa laments the death of the 13 workers who were cruelly murdered by criminals allied with illegal mining,” the company said. The men were kidnapped from the mine on April 26.
Illegal gold mining in Peru, a major metals exporter, has surged as the precious metal’s price has risen in recent years. Analysts have estimated that illegal mining in the country was worth more than $6bn last year.
The government of President Dina Boluarte and the country’s congress — both with approval ratings below 5 per cent — have come under fire for failing to tackle a crime wave in the Andean nation. Shopkeepers, bus drivers and barbers have recently taken to the streets to protest against extortion rackets.
Criminal violence — driven by illegal mining, drug trafficking and extortion — is on the rise across South America, with states of emergency declared or extended in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia this year.
The Poderosa mine has been repeatedly targeted, sometimes resulting in subterranean firefights between security guards and armed criminals. The company said 39 people linked to mining had been killed by criminal bands in Pataz.
In its statement on Sunday, the company said the state of emergency declared last month and the presence of a contingent of police officers in Pataz had done little to halt the violence.
“It will not be possible to defeat criminality if, despite our repeated requests, the police continues to refrain from entering and interdicting the illegal mine entrances which are used as a base and shelter by criminals,” Poderosa said, adding that their locations were clearly identifiable to law enforcement.
The company also criticised a government scheme that allows temporary permits to be given to informal small-scale miners, allowing them to continue mining while awaiting formal approval.
That programme was extended last November, despite criticism from analysts and mining companies that it favours illegal mining, as miners who have asked to formalise their operations are exempt from criminal liability.
A spokesperson for the interior ministry, which oversees the police, did not respond to a request for comment.