13 security guards kidnapped from a Peruvian gold mine found dead

The bodies of 13 security guards kidnapped from a major Peruvian gold mine just over a week ago were found Sunday, the mining company said.

The Peruvian company, La Poderosa, said that a search and rescue team had recovered the staff members’ remains on Sunday. It blamed their abduction on informal miners allegedly linked to criminal gangs who ambushed the gold mine on April 26.

La Poderosa, a private firm based in Peru’s capital of Lima, said that criminal groups fighting for control of the mine in Peru’s remote northwestern city of Pataz have killed 39 of the company’s workers since it began extraction in 1980, including the latest 13.

“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,” the mining company said in a statement, according to AFP.

In a particularly brazen incident in December 2023, illegal miners attacked the same Poderosa mine with explosives, killing nine people and wounding 15. La Poderosa sent in more security guards in response to the string of attacks.

In the city of Trujillo, west of Pataz, some of the victims’ relatives waited for the bodies to be transferred to the morgue there.

“We want justice, that this doesn’t just stop here,” Abraham Dominguez, whose son Alexander was found dead inside the mine, told the Canal N television station, AFP reported.

Peruvian police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Peru’s Interior Ministry said it had deployed special police forces to “locate and capture those responsible for these heinous crimes.” It did not give further details about the attack or its perpetrators.

Mining is a key economic driver for the Andean nation, one of the largest gold producers in Latin America.

A major gold and copper supplier for the world, Peru is unique in allowing informal miners to operate with some protections as long as they plan to legalize their operations. But illegal mining quickly boomed into a vast industry as the metals became increasingly lucrative, new mining techniques emerged and the government struggled to mount a response.

With much of Peru awash in a wave of crime that prompted the government to declare a state of emergency last month, reports of extortion from artisanal miners and entrepreneurs in the country’s northern mining area have surged in recent months.