Peruvian police detain 19, seize machinery in Cusco illegal mining crackdown

Police forces in the Cusco region of Peru carried out two large operations against illegal gold mining. In Paucartambo, more than 120 officers dismantled a clandestine camp, arrested 12 people and confiscated heavy equipment including excavators, back‑hoes, twelve dump trucks, motorcycles and a minivan, as well as explosives.

A separate raid in the Camanti district of Quispicanchi detained seven suspects, seized 19 dynamite cartridges, a 21‑metre detonating cord, rock‑spraying equipment, drills, carts and gold‑washing bateas. One of those arrested was a Bolivian national. Both actions are part of an ongoing police campaign to curb environmental damage and organized crime linked to informal mining in the high‑Andean areas of Cusco.