For years, Trujillo — a city with a population of a million inhabitants, on Peru’s northern coast — has been plagued by contract killings and extortion. Gangs like Los Pulpos (The Octopuses) emerged there. They have turned the act of extorting “protection money” from merchants into a criminal enterprise.

Since 2024, the city has been under a state of emergency. The fight against crime was a central theme of the campaign that helped Keiko Fujimori win the presidency this past June. Early in October, the president announced the creation of the Unified Command, which will bring together elements of the Armed Forces and the National Police to combat organized crime.