Seven police officers and their K9 police dog were killed after an ambush by terrorists guarding their cocaine trafficking operations in Peru.
The incident happened when a sniper killed the driver at the same time as an explosion tipped the vehicle over, and then an armed gang attacked the survivors.
The attack occurred in Peru’s La Convención Province and the police officers were travelling together in a truck when they were ambushed.
The road they were travelling along when Sue the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Maranon Rivers and they had just reached the native community of Natividad when the explosion occurred.
The area is a haven for cocaine production and trafficking and the police were involved in fighting the drugs trade when they were attacked.
In a statement obtained by Newsflash from the Peruvian Ministry of the Interior, they said that the cops had been from the Natividad Police Station and the Directorate of Special Operations (DIROES), and they had been attacked at 9:45am on 11th February.
Eight policemen had been in the vehicle and only one survived with bullet wounds. The terrorists escaped afterwards with guns and rifles that were looted from the victims.
As well as the seven dead, a police dog was also shot by the gang.
The General Commander of the Peruvian National Police, General Raul Alfaro, reported that Captain Erwin Mego, the one police officer who survived, and numerous injuries from the explosion and had also been shot through the body of the bullet exiting through his back. But his condition is reportedly stable.
He added that a search operation to try and find the terrorist through dense jungle vegetation is currently ongoing, saying: “A mixed operation with military and police personnel was immediately carried out in the territory.”
The gang is reportedly led by a man nicknamed ‘Chato Mendoza’, whose real name is Grimaldo Quispe Huamani, who days before was seen by police informants in Llochegua, in the province of Huanta.
They are believed to be connected to the Militarized Communist Party of Peru, made up of remnants of the Shining Path in an alliance with drug trafficking gangs.
It marks an escalation in violence in the region since the government carried out Operation Patriot in August last year, which cracks down on the operations of drug traffickers.
Pedro Yaranga, an expert on drug trafficking issues, believes the purpose of the ambush was to obtain weapons and other supplies, and demonstrate that they are “trained to carry out attacks in places where they do not necessarily control”.
