Juliaca police investigated for alleged $60,000 robbery

In Juliaca, Peru, police officers are under investigation for the alleged robbery of $60,000 from an 18-year-old woman. One officer, Ensign Sebastián Jafet Romero Sánchez, has been ordered into nine months of preventive detention after acknowledging his participation in the intervention.

According to the investigation, the victim was intercepted by officers using a police patrol vehicle under the guise of an identity check. She was reportedly moved through various streets and pressured to hand over money under threats of money laundering investigations, before being abandoned on the road to Arequipa, where hooded individuals allegedly took the remaining funds.

Local community leaders from the Four Zones of Juliaca have protested in front of the Public Ministry, demanding the dismissal of the prosecutor in charge. Protesters accuse the prosecution of leniency for classifying the incident as a minor offense rather than kidnapping or organized crime. They are calling for the inclusion of additional charges against the seven detained officers and further investigation into several accomplices, including motorcyclists and a local worker.