In the early hours of Friday, August 29, there was a ambush shot at three unarmed people on Zárate Boulevard, in San Juan de Lurigancho. The owner, manager and sound engineer of the Gato Negro nightclub were executed in the middle of a public street.
A murder of this type concentrates all the violence that marked this year in the country: revenge, account settlements and attacks against people, where firearms were used and which have in common, in many cases, the dispute of a criminal economy or between criminal gangs.
Peru will end this year with homicide figures that exceed those of previous years. At the end of 2025, there were 2,213 crimes against life, with an average of 6.07 homicides daily, according to the National Computer System of Deaths (Sinadef).
Last year there was 2,083 homicides and in 2023 the figure reached 1,511with averages of 5.60 and 4.14 crimes per day, respectively. The number of murders this year exceeds that of all the years recorded since 2017 (678), 2018 (927), 2019 (1,139), 2020 (1,018), 2021 (1,416) and 2022 (1,539). For the former Minister of the Interior, Wilfredo Pedraza, These are figures that demonstrate the marked acceleration of violence.
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But, the criminal map, since he assumed the interim presidency José Jerí, It’s just as worrying.
According to the data analyst, Juan Carbajal, in the first 80 days of the president’s administration increased to 444 the registration of homicides, according to official government data through the National Computer System of Deaths (Sinadef). And this is still with records to be updated.
The specialist assures that around 80% have been caused by firearm projectile (PAF). The daily average of homicide records during José Jerí’s government is 5.55 which is higher than what was recorded during the period of Dina Boluarte (5.25).
ONLY IN LIMA AND CALLAO
On December 12, hitmen killed two brothers when they were leaving a home in San Luis. Henry and Kevin Unoc They went out to do work civil construction when two subjects on a motorcycle opened fire. The mother of the two young people denied that they had been extorted.
The accumulated data marks a spike in violence in Lima and Callao, during the state of emergency: 113 homicides recorded after the first 55 days of that measure (and still with records to update). Likewise, more than 80% were caused by a firearm projectile.
The districts with the highest number of crimes are Saint Martin de Porres (16) and Puente Piedra (7) in the Lima Norte area. San Juan de Miraflores (8) and Villa El Salvador (6) in the Lima South area. Ate (11) and El Agustino (6) in the Lima Este area. Lima fence (5) and San Juan de Lurigancho (5) in the Lima Center area. Bellavista (7) and Callao (5) in the constitutional province of Shut up.
Within the official Sinadef data during the Jerí government, there are 57 records of violent deaths caused by a firearm projectile, but which, however, appear as ‘ignored’, that is, they do not have a classification of type of death: 32 are from Lima and 4 from Callao.
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The shootings against carriersin homes or in public places, which were the most critical features of the violence, left shocking records throughout this year. From January to November 23, 68 people linked to urban transport were murdered in the midst of extortion attacks (65 Pruanos and 3 Venezuelans).
The driver of the public transport company LIPETSA, Daniel José Cedeña Alfonso, He was murdered on October 4 on Miguel Iglesias Avenue, in San Juan de Miraflores. On November 11, Edgar Alexander Vargas Solis (47), of Venezuelan nationality, who was carrying out his usual transportation day in a unit that covered the Cercado de Lima-Callao route, was also shot dead.
Of the 2,113 homicides recorded as of December 11, 1,537 (72.7%) They were caused by a firearm projectile. Within the official Sinadef records, there are more than 300 violent deaths caused by PAF in the year 2025, but they nevertheless appear as ‘ignored’, it says. Juan Carbajal.
And he adds that such a situation also occurred in previous years, so if such records were to be honest it would mean that the annual homicide numbers would be much higher than those currently recorded.
ARRIOLA QUESTIONS SINADEF
In Jerí’s government they have the constant idea of remaining very attentive to the slightest sign of new increases in violence because they know that the criminal organizations are activealthough crouched before greater control of public space.
Reaffirming the position of the Executive, the commander general of the PNP, Oscar Arriolaquestioned the crime figures in the country, pointing out that Sinadef does not offer exact data on homicides.
The officer states that the PNP has own records prepared in coordination with medical examiners and the Public Ministry, which more accurately reflect the magnitude of criminal violence.
He explained that the murders recorded by the PNP in the last three months, corresponding only to criminal acts, are: October: 82 homicides, November 74 and December 54 (until the 21st).
The officer questioned that some reports include, within the category of ‘violent deaths’, traffic accidents, work accidents, suicides and cases with undetermined cause, which – as he indicated – distorts the real analysis of crime. “Figures are placed that do not correspond exclusively to crimes. “This generates confusion in the population,” he added.
PLANS NO RESULTS
The former vice minister of Public Security, Ricardo Valdesindicated to La República that President José Jerí’s plans against insecurity “they have not given results.” He stated that the strategy formulated by the Minister of the Interior, Vicente Tiburcio, and the Executive “has basically concentrated on generating a change in the communication style rather than a criminal investigation strategy.”
“The state of emergency has been demonstrating its failure; They have not stopped either extortion or murder.…The majority of crimes, beyond violent deaths, are related to extortion. Although they have generated laws to protect the carrier or changes in the police structure, all of these are cosmetic changes, advertising marketing of the president’s image,” Valdés emphasized.
These figures continue to affect people’s confidence and perception. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI), for the January-June 2025 semester, 52.2% (+12.8 percentage points, compared to the same period of the previous year) of the population placed crime as one of the main problems of the country.
For its part, 19.7% (+3.4 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year) of the population considered the lack of citizen security as another of the country’s main problems. Both consolidate their position as the second and third biggest problem in Peru, respectively, only behind corruption.
This set of data shows that the fight against crime and organized crime Not only is it not giving results, but the population perceives it as a problem that is getting worse and which the Government cannot address.
This situation has a very strong economic impact, since the direct costs of crime and violence in Peru reach 2.82% of GDP, which undermines people’s expectations and companies.
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Although the fight against citizen insecurity is one of the functions in charge of the national government, local governments also play an important role.
Yesterday, in broad daylight, hitmen shot and killed the driver of a bus Oscar Armando León Fernándezin the Rímac district. He was attacked inside his vehicle on Francisco Pizarro Avenue, very close to a police post.
And hours before, the Venezuelan Maycker Yépez Escalona (24) was murdered a few meters from Plaza Dos de Mayo. While in Comas, the Venezuelan was also shot John Lord Contreras (35). And the year is not over yet.
STATES OF EMERGENCY, A FAILURE
The former director general of the PNP, Eduardo Pérez Rocha, He said that the 17 states of emergencies – if extensions are included – in the last three years “have been a failure.”
Pérez Rocha emphasized that the Intelligence Directorate of the PNP “knows the places where the operations centers of the criminal gangs that extort are” and related this deficiency to the acts of corruption of the troops.
“The true success of the government’s strategy will depend on its sustained execution, permanent monitoring of the Conasec and, above all, the capture of the true leaders of the extortion and hitman mafias that operate in the capital,” he stated.
