When the government of Lenin Moreno faced popular rejection of the economic measures it enacted, the Ecuadorian police borrowed riot gear from the PNP.
The National Police of Peru asked his counterpart in Ecuador for the return of a batch of 12,000 tear gas grenadeswhich he received on loan to respond to the wave of protests that broke out after former President Lenin Moreno launched a package of economic measures, on May 19, 2020.
Given the lack of riot control material due to the successive protests against the government of President Dina Boluarte, which have been taking place continuously for more than 50 days, the PNP He decided to go to the National Police of Ecuador (PNE) to return the tear gas grenades that he had entrusted to him in an emergency context.
The lot returned by the Ecuadorian police consists of the following:
- 4,400 37 mm caliber tear gas grenades.
- 1,600 37 mm caliber tear gas grenades.
- 5,000 12mm cartridges.
- 1,000 hand grenades.
According to sources from the Ministry of the Interior, the batch of grenades was received by the Peruvian National Police on the border with Ecuador. Then the shipment was transferred to the Tumbes airport, from where a Police Aviation aircraft made the transfer to Lima.
The anti-riot equipment was mobilized with a security cordon to the warehouses of the Department of Arms and Ammunition, of the Logistics Division of the PNP, located in Rímac.
The grenades will be distributed in Lima and provinces according to the needs.
On the other hand, on January 23, the National Police of Peru “very urgently” requested the purchase of 230,000 grenades and tear gas cartridges, in addition to other anti-riot items, due to the increase in social protests in various parts of the national territory. .
Faced with this emergency situation, the Minister of the Interior, Vicente Romero Fernández, announced that he is managing the acquisition of 100,000 tear gas projectiles so that the forces of order can continue fulfilling their work of quelling the constant social mobilizations in Lima and in the interior of the country.
On January 28, the Executive transferred S/22.9 million in favor of the Ministry of the Interior to contract the supply of riot control materials for the National Police of Peru, travel expenses and food (cold ranch) for police personnel.
The transfer was approved by supreme decree published yesterday in the official newspaper El Peruano and bears the signatures of President Dina Boluarte, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Álex Contreras.
