The subtle smirk of the baby-faced ‘murderer’ was plastered on every TV across South America.
The continent has been reeling from the news that Peruvian Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano, 20, slaughtered three women, the youngest of whom was 15, after luring them into a van with the promise of a party.
Worse still, Victoriano, charged with their murders, livestreamed their brutal killings online.
The remains of Morena Verri and Brenda del Castillo, both 20, and teenager Lara Gutiérrez, were found buried in the back garden of a home outside Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires.
It was at this home that the girls, accused by local gangs of stealing drugs, were slowly tortured and murdered.
Lara is said to have had all five fingers on her left hand amputated before her captors ended her life.
Brenda Del Castillo had a skull fracture and her stomach had been cut open after she was killed.
And Morena is understood to have asphyxiated with a plastic bag found pulled over her head.
Baby-faced Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano, 20, was hauled out of the back of a lorry he was hiding in after fleeing Buenos Aires in the wake of the horrific crimes
The continent has been reeling from the revelation that Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano, 20, slaughtered three girls, the youngest of whom was 15
Victoriano was caught after he smuggled himself back to his native Peru.
With a leer, ‘Little J’, the son of a murdered drug trafficker, insisted: ‘I haven’t killed anyone.
‘The guilty person has to be found. I didn’t have anything to do with this.’
Though the horrific bloodbath took place in Argentina, it has its roots in Peru, a gorgeous, geographically varied country favoured by many a British backpacker that has long been blighted by organised crime.
Between the ancient Inca ruins dotted around the country that tell the tale of a long-dead advanced civilisation runs the blood of countless innocent people murdered in the chaos caused by aggressively expanding organised crime groups.
According to Peruvian police, nearly 460 people were killed between January 1 and March 16 of this year alone.
More than 1,900 reports of extortion were made just in January.
These numbers are considered by native Peruvians to be far lower than the actual figure, as victims of these crimes are often too scared to come forward for fear of reprisal.
A combination of constant political instability, a weak criminal justice system and the spotty presence of the state, particularly in rural areas, makes the nation a breeding ground for criminal groups.
As a result, Peru is a particular hotspot for sexual slavery, illegal organ trafficking, extortion and slavery.
It is also the second-largest producer of cocaine in the world.
As a result, bloodthirsty gangs roam the country and act with impunity, pillaging the country for everything it is worth and leaving nothing to the destitute innocents who can do little more than try to survive another day.
Brutal ‘Los Killers’ cartel fronted by hitman boss and his TikTokker girlfriend
Ortiz Ubillus (pictured, right) was arrested following an investigation that showed her significant link to Gianfranco Torres Navarro (pictured, left), head of the deadly Los Killers de Ventanilla y Callao gang
She was known for her large following on TikTok where she showed off her luxurious lifestyle
In July, the TikTokker girlfriend of a mass murdering Peruvian gang boss was arrested and deported from the US for her alleged involvement in transnational crime.
Ortiz Ubillus was arrested following an investigation that showed her significant link to Gianfranco Torres Navarro, head of the deadly Los Killers de Ventanilla y Callao gang.
She was known for her large following on TikTok.
There, she showed off her luxurious lifestyle which saw her flaunt designer clothes and jet around the world on expensive resort holidays.
She also shared a video of herself shooting at targets at a gun range.
Her ‘high-profile removal’ came following an arrest warrant from Peruvian authorities, who have charged her with several organised crime-related offences.
Navarro himself was wanted for killing 23 people across Peru, which he fled after allegedly murdering a retired police officer and wounding a municipal worker in a restaurant.
He is also known as ‘Gianfranco 23’ a reference to the number of people he has killed.
His gang is best known for murdering those who step on the toes of its core business of extorting construction companies.
Victims include the family members of his rivals, with Navarro also suspected of ordering a February 2023 hit on the leader of another gang and five members of his family, including two children.
Both Ubillus and Navarro were arrested in July this year in Endicott, New York, about 145 miles northwest of New York City
Gangs’ scramble for gold ends in mass execution
Photos taken by law enforcement showed the more than a dozen bodies stuffed into bright bags and lined up in the dank tunnels of the mine
‘Aim for the neck, not the head’, one executioner coldly told another.
One by one, the 13 men held hostage in the Poderosa gold mine in Pataz, let out a final groan, moan or squeal as their murderers sent a bullet into each of their bodies, per video footage taken by a ruthless Peruvian gang member.
Photos taken by law enforcement showed the more than a dozen bodies stuffed into bright bags and lined up in the dank tunnels of the mine. Local media reported that the crime was carried out by local gang ‘Great Alliance 2’.
As the price of gold increases amid global economic uncertainty, gangs have been increasingly scouring Peru’s gold-laden mines to steal from at all costs.
As a result, mining firms have heavily invested in security contractors to protect their riches.
But in many cases, these private forces can get overwhelmed by their enemies.
Peruvian gangs that once cultivated drugs for profit have increasingly turned to gold as their most lucrative source of money.
According to Peru’s Financial Intelligence unit, illegal mining run by resulted in $9billion in illegal earnings between 2014 and 2024.
This surpassed cocaine trafficking as the country’s most lucrative illegal trade.
Illegal gold mining now accounts for roughly 60% of laundered assets in Peru.
The armed child gang led by a nine-year-old
The youths, all part of Los Chavitos de Santoyo, were all caught trying to rob a public bus while armed with knives, scissors a screwdriver, and a tire iron
It isn’t just adults who are starting gangs. Earlier this year, the six members of a Lima gang headed by a nine-year-old were arrested following an undercover operation.
The youths, all part of Los Chavitos de Santoyo, were all caught trying to rob a public bus while armed with knives, scissors a screwdriver, and a tire iron.
According to one witness, one of the teenagers pushed a knife to a passenger’s throat.
They told local media: ‘The guy in the white hood had the handle in his hand.
‘He pressed the knife on my companion to force her to hand over her bag.’
The thieves took backpacks, wallets and mobile phones from terrified passengers.
Video footage of the arrest showed cops slamming the young criminals on the ground, with their weapons scattered around them.
Following their arrest, they were transferred to the El Agustino Police Department.
‘Children of God’ who force prostitutes into C-sections – then force them to work straight away
Local media in Peru reported early last year that victims of the self-proclaimed ‘Children of God’ gang were heavily involved in the sex trafficking industry.
So far-reaching is the gang’s control over destitute sex workers that members are able to easily force pregnant prostitutes to have C-section procedures to remove their children from their wombs.
Victims told local media that once their children are born, they are held ransom by gang members and used as collateral to force them to continue working straight away.
One terrified sex worker told Ojo: ‘[Gang members] impregnate them themselves to take their children away from them, threaten them, and kill them.
‘Your guarantee is your child. They don’t sell it, they keep it, we take care of it. We take turns. A girl who had a C-section worked.
‘I helped her and gave the baby formula. Where is the baby now? They were in Tacna, they were going to take it to Madre de Dios, that’s all she told me’.
Another woman told local media: ‘There was a girl who, as soon as she was a week post-C-section, went to work. Her wound opened up. It was horrible to see. She developed mastitis. She’s still paying because that fine is still pending’.
The ‘Children of God’ are said to be linked to the brutal Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The transnational gang is known for having interests in dozens of illegal activities, including arms trafficking, bribery, drug trafficking, illegal mining, ransom, human trafficking and money laundering.
Mass grave filled with rape victims who refused to pay extortion money
The grave was found by prosecutors in Chiclayo, which led to the arrest of 22 gang members
In another horrific instance, the ‘Children of God’ gang were caught with a mass grave filled with rape victims who refused to pay extortion money.
The grave was found by prosecutors in Chiclayo, which led to the arrest of 22 gang members.
One woman told local cops: ‘We witnessed the murder of [one woman], who was dismembered and cut into pieces.
‘In a video call, they threatened us, telling us that if we tried to escape, the same thing would happen to us. Then they took her head and gave it to one of them to hold’.
According to Ricardo Valdés, the executive director of NGO CHS Alternativo, many of the women who are exploited for sex work in Peru are originally from Venezuela.
As many as 85% of the foreign victims of sex trafficking are from the nation.
Valdés said that Venezuelan victims are at particular risk: ‘Their economic precariousness, ignorance of the laws of the host country, the absence of support networks, criminalization for being foreigners, and, often, their status as irregular migrants make them the perfect victims for these exploitation networks’.
Man formed gang to kidnap his own son to extort his in-laws
Marco Antonio Sánchez Juárez (pictured, centre) was arrested after he kidnapped his own son with the aim of extorting his in-laws.
Though most assume gangs are sophisticated organisations with long-standing roots in nations, they are often low level groups of people who conspire to commit crimes.
Such is the case of the gang Marco Antonio Sánchez Juárez, a resident of the seaside Peruvian town of Callao.
He and several others were arrested in December 2023 after he kidnapped his own one-month-old son to extort his in-laws out of nearly £9,000.
Juárez took his son to the mountainous region of Ticlio and held him ransom.
There, the infant was all but starved as he still needed to consume breast milk.
Juárez and the others he conspired with were all deeply in debt, police said.
Among his co-conspirators was a woman he was in a romantic relationship with.
Sánchez was charged with aggravated extortion, aggravated kidnapping, and exposing others to danger.
The baby’s mother demanded at the time that none of those involved in the shocking crime be released.
She also thanked police for returning her little boy to her, safe and sound.
Extortion gang that opens fire in the street to spread fear among residents
The footage, taken by one of the shooters, showed him firing five rounds into the packed shop
In January this year, horrifying footage showed two criminals on a motorcycle opening fire on a chicken shop in Lima.
The footage, taken by one of the shooters, showed him firing five rounds into the packed shop, which was just a few blocks away from a police station.
The owners of the restaurant said the attack was in response to an extortion threat for nearly £10,700.
The criminals shared the video to generate fear in the local community.
It came just months after an explosive device was chucked into a nearby local market, setting one of the stalls alight.
One of the stall runners said at the time: ‘We are an association with more than 30 years of history, and this is the first time this has happened to us’.
They also heavily criticised the government for not intervening in the crimes that have blighted the local community despite putting it in a state of emergency.
One person said: ‘The state of emergency is just another stripe on the tiger; it hasn’t benefited us at all and hasn’t helped us at all.
‘The security forces pass from time to time, and they come when the body is already buried”
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .