PERU: Hundreds of weapons seized by police during quarantine crime wave in Lima

Peru: Peruvian police seized over nine hundred weapons during a crime wave amid the coronavirus state of emergency, the government reported this week.

Authorities confiscated 918 firearms - including shotguns, revolvers, pistols, rifles and homemade weapons - from various police operations carried out during the pandemic quarantine that lasted from March 16 through June 30.

According to the National Police of Peru (PNP), the seizures were a key part of the authorities' "Fortaleza 2020" plan, which has been aimed at strengthening citizen security amid rising crime.

Police said that criminal activities did not stop despite the lockdown. They explained that drone usage was an important component in the success of the campaign to stop crime. The PNP added that almost 100,000 arrests were made during the quarantine period and nine criminal organizations were dismantled. 

Despite the quarantine crime wave, overall crime statistics were down compared to last year. According to government data, between January and July, 2019, authorities registered 203,258 crime complaints. During that same period in 2020, the number was 136,285 complaints. Police attribute the drop to the quarantine period. 

Taxi driver and robbery victim said- "I went down to open the trunk and another man came from the other side and the other one put the gun on me - put the gun on this side of me - he then tells me, speaking softly, 'you have already lost' - then they took my documents and the car key." 

"There is a certain despair regarding criminal gangs and criminals. When they commit these assaults before they had established routes or in what we call hot zones, according to the police. Now, for example, they have no qualms about robbing a bank on a main avenue or a pharmacy. We are seeing that there is a sense of desperation with these crimes." said- Stefano Corzo, citizen security investigator for the legal defence Institute.