(IPYS/IFEX) – On 27 September 2004, radio journalist Larrin Pacherres García received a death threat from Pascual Pérez, alias “Lito”, the leader of a drug trafficking ring. Pérez threatened Pacherres after learning that the journalist had initiated a media campaign to, together with local residents and police, eradicate drug trafficking in the El Porvenir neighbourhood […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 27 September 2004, radio journalist Larrin Pacherres García received a death threat from Pascual Pérez, alias “Lito”, the leader of a drug trafficking ring. Pérez threatened Pacherres after learning that the journalist had initiated a media campaign to, together with local residents and police, eradicate drug trafficking in the El Porvenir neighbourhood of Chiclayo, capital of Lambayeque region, northern Peru. Pérez has been described as the most dangerous drug trafficker in the area in the last three decades.
Pacherres told IPYS that Pérez hurled insults at him and said he would be killed. After being physically assaulted, the journalist, with the help of local residents, managed to escape from the group of people who accompanied Pérez.
The drug trafficking ring has been angered by the journalist’s participation in the formation of El Porvenir residents’ groups to combat crime in coordination with police.
According to Pacherres, officers at the ‘El Porvenir’ police detachment paid little attention to his complaint about the actions against him. Pacherres finally sought help from the public relations branch of the police’s Second Territorial Office (Dirección Territorial de la Policía, DITERPOL), at which point an officer ordered that the journalist be accompanied by a police squad in the search for the suspects. The police officers, however, did not arrest Pérez and hinted that the drug traffickers may in fact have links to the region’s justice system, which could hinder the launching of an investigation.
Pacherres has requested protective measures from the Chiclayo Subprefecture.
