HomeNewsBriefRetired Military Investigated for Cocaine Trafficking in Peru
BRIEF

Retired Military Investigated for Cocaine Trafficking in Peru

COCAINE / 17 FEB 2017 BY TRISTAN CLAVEL EN

Peru's authorities are investigating former members of the armed forces for using military property as the base for a cocaine trafficking ring, a striking display of corruption within an institution that has been put in charge of leading the fight against drug trafficking. 

Authorities have accused one retired army captain and a former cadet of using the Jésus María hotel in the district of Lima to store illicit drugs for the smuggling ring they ran, reported Perú21. The hotel is a space reserved for former and active military personnel.

The investigation into the trafficking ring was reportedly launched in June 2016, after a suspect who was arrested with nearly 40 kilos of cocaine admitted that the drugs came from the facility.

The Attorney General's Office say that the owner of the drug shipment was retired Army Captain Paul Alexander Bobadilla Retamal, according to America TV. The former captain would allegedly rent a room in order to store the drugs there. 

Of the seven total suspects, five have so far been arrested. Bobadilla, the alleged leader of the trafficking ring, was apprehended at El Dorado airport in Bogotá, Colombia while attempting to flee. He is expected to be extradited back to Peru, according to El Comercio.

InSight Crime Analysis

Although the dismantled network appears to have only moved small quantities of cocaine, the arrests are significant because of what they potentially say about a culture of corruption within the Peruvian military. If a former high-ranking officer felt comfortable storing cocaine on military property, it would not be a stretch to think that active personnel might be involved in more serious corruption schemes while in the field. 

Indeed, a 2015 report by the Associated Press found that every day an average of four drug flights leave Peru's principal coca-producing region, known as the VRAEM, which is supposedly being monitored by the military. Both US and Peruvian authorities pointed to corruption as a principal cause for the seemingly unchecked drug trafficking operations in the region. Having the military in control of the region's drug interdiction efforts is "like putting four street dogs to guard a plate of beefsteak," one retired army general told the AP. 

SEE ALSO: Peru News and Profile

Peru temporarily lifted a long-standing state of emergency in the VRAEM in 2015, but re-implemented it in October 2016. This measure once again placed the military at the helm of the fight against drug trafficking in the region. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CHINA AND CRIME / 11 JAN 2023

Hong Kong regularly receives methamphetamine from Mexico. Now it's a major destination for cocaine shipments from across Latin America.

COVID AND CRIME / 23 JUN 2021

As Peru reels from having the worst COVID-19 caseload in the world, criminals are extorting the families of patients in…

COCAINE / 4 MAY 2022

A shootout involving French police and suspected cocaine traffickers in the northern city port of Le Havre has dramatically underscored…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…