The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, declared a state of emergency in the capital city, Lima, on March 18. The decree, which came amid a wave of violence, gives the police and military full control of the security situation there for a period of 30 days.

Peru is no stranger to emergencies of this kind. Only last year, in September 2024, Boluarte's government declared a 60-day state of emergency in 12 districts of the capital. The rationale for declaring the emergency now, as in the past, remains the same: to address the threat posed by criminal gangs.

The latest emergency was prompted by the brazen killing of Paul Flores, the popular 39-year-old lead singer of a Peruvian band called Armonia 10. Flores was shot dead by assailants who attacked a bus he was riding in with bandmates and attempted to extort money from them as they left a concert.

Peru has seen a spate of killings, violent extortion and attacks on public places in recent months. According to the Peruvian police, there were 459 killings across the country between January 1 and March 16, and over 1,900 reports of extortion in January alone.

Many Peruvians point to the fact that the extortion and homicide racket may be far more severe than official statistics suggest. Plenty of those affected by criminality do not report their misfortune for fears of reprisal by criminal gangs.

On March 21, a few days after the state of emergency in Lima was declared, Peru's Congress voted to remove the interior minister, Juan Jose Santivanez, from office. In a post on X, they said Santivanez must take responsibility for his "inability to address the wave of citizen insecurity the country is facing".

Peru serves as a hotspot for sexual slavery, illegal organ trafficking and labour exploitation. In addition, it is also the second-largest producer of cocaine in the world.

Over 95,000 hectares of land was dedicated to coca cultivation in the country in 2023 - an 18% increase from the figure recorded in 2021. This expansion has been driven primarily by cultivation in Peru's indigenous territories and protected areas. Indigenous territories now account for 20% of all the coca cultivated in Peru.

These lucrative operations are led by local crime organisations, often working in collusion with corrupt public officials and foreign partners. According to Organized Crime Index, these criminal networks include police officers and migration officials who work at control points on the borders and facilitate illegal activities.

The logistics of Peru's cocaine trade are often also managed by Serbian, Mexican and Colombian mafias. From Peru, cocaine goes through Mexico for the US market and Brazil for the European market. Some shipments are sent directly to Oceania and Japan.

Peru's perpetual political instability, weak criminal justice system and the poor presence of the state in its outlying territories allow various criminal groups to engage in their nefarious trade.

Two former Peruvian presidents have faced corruption charges. One of them, Alejandro Toledo, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for corruption in 2024. The authorities accused Toledo of accepting US$35 million (Pound 27 million) in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to allow the company to build a highway in Peru.

Another controversial former president, Alberto Fujimori, had been in prison for 16 years for human rights abuses and corruption after being extradited from Chile in 2007. He was released in 2023 on humanitarian grounds and died the following year.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Peru are seeking a 34-year sentence for ex-president Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office and arrested after his attempt to dissolve Congress in late 2022 and rule by decree. Castillo has described his trial as "politicised" and has refused legal counsel provided by the judicial system.

So many former Peruvian presidents have been accused of crimes that the country has designated a small jail on the outskirts of Lima specifically to house them. As Colombia-based journalist John Otis put it in a radio interview in 2023, the Barbadillo prison not only serves as a symbol of corruption, but also a testimony to political dysfunction in the country.

The spread of economic activities operating outside the law, such as illegal gold mining, has emboldened organised crime in Peru. Instances of politicians and criminals working together to line their pockets are not uncommon.

A good example is Cesar Alvarez, the governor of the resource-rich Ancash region of western Peru. Nicknamed "the beast" by the citizens of the province because of his reputation for political violence, Alvarez allegedly operated with impunity by asserting his control through an elaborate network of government institutions and criminal organisations.

According to an indictment by Peru's public prosecutor's office, Alvarez extorted, threatened and ordered the assassination of political adversaries while in office between 2007 and 2014. Alvarez, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison in 2019.

When the government in Lima last declared an emergency in parts of the capital in 2024, the country's federation of business associations stated: "We live under siege from organised crime which has taken control of the country in the alarming absence of the state".

This statement appears prophetic. Peru, it appears, is losing the battle against organised crime.