A coordinated operation between the Peruvian National Police (PNP), the Bolivian Police, and the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) led to the arrest in late January in La Paz of Keysi Salvatierra Vigo, the partner of Jhonsson Smith Cruz Torres, alias Jhonsson Pulpo, leader of the Peruvian criminal organization Los Pulpos.
The arrest tightens the net around a criminal gang that has wreaked havoc in several countries across the region and reflects a broader pattern of transnational cooperation producing tangible result. According to Interpol, police agencies across South America have intensified cooperation and expanded the use of shared intelligence systems and databases to combat transnational organized crime.
Multinational cooperation: effective coordination
Peruvian Police Commander General Óscar Arriola told the press that the capture was made possible through ongoing coordination between the police forces of the three countries, demonstrating effective multinational collaboration. This alliance takes place in a regional context in which multinational operations have become increasingly common. In recent years, coordinated initiatives across Latin America have led to hundreds of arrests and investigations targeting criminal networks involved in activities ranging from trafficking to environmental crimes.
Meanwhile, the Investigative Police (PDI) in Santiago, Chile, continues the search for alias Jhonsson Pulpo. Peru’s Ministry of the Interior is offering a reward of around $150,000 for information leading to his capture. To avoid being recognized and evade justice, the criminal changed his physical appearance, Diario Correo reported.
Three decades of criminal expansion in the region
Los Pulpos, also known as Los Pulpos de Trujillo, is a transnational criminal organization of Peruvian origin dedicated to extortion, kidnapping, and contract killings, which emerged in the 1990s.
Founded by the four Cruz Arce brothers in Trujillo, this gang has evolved from a local group into a regional threat that has required coordinated international efforts to combat it, Infobae reported.
This expansion coincides with a period in which Peru experienced a sharp rise in extortion cases between 2021 and 2024, increasing from 4,761 reported cases to more than 22,000, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Los Pulpos have maintained territorial dominance in areas such as Trujillo in the La Libertad region and in Lima, where they continue to exercise control despite the presence of other gangs. They also attempted to dispute territory, albeit unsuccessfully, with Tren de Aragua, and expanded their activities to include extortion of mining entrepreneurs, obtaining significant sums of money with relatively few strikes, Spain’s Elcano Royal Institute indicated.
“Instead of expanding within Peru, Los Pulpos opted to go international: They tried unsuccessfully to enter Ecuador, but managed to establish themselves in Chile, where they replicated their extortion-based model,” Peruvian international analyst Pedro Yaranga told Diálogo. Authorities have also identified members of the group in Argentina, InSight Crime reported.
“In that process, they incorporated increasingly violent methods, including torture similar to that used by terrorist organizations such as the MRTA [Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement] and Shining Path, as well as the use of weapons exclusively used by the military,” Yaranga added.
“In structural terms, they initially operated under an almost pyramidal scheme and a defined hierarchy,” Yaranga continued. “However, over time, they adopted dynamics learned from other organizations such as Brazil’s First Capital Command, diluting the single leadership and multiplying the visible heads, making it difficult to identify a main leader.”
Terror among business owners
In Chile, authorities have arrested at least 34 members of the faction as part of investigations targeting the organization’s operations in Santiago. Many of them were described as “operational arms and front men,” Deputy Prefect Cristián Sepúlveda, head of the PDI’s Organized Crime Investigation Brigade, told the press. The organization obtained repeated payments through extortion and violence, including homicides, threats, and blackmail.
The criminals demanded protection payments of up to $20,000 from business owners, mainly restaurant owners. If the victims refused to pay, the criminals attacked the businesses with explosives, Diario Correo reported.
This modus operandi has had a devastating economic impact: the Inter-American Development Bank estimates that criminal organizations cause economic losses equivalent to 3.4 percent of Latin America’s GDP, a figure that exceeds regional investments in education and social assistance. In Peru, among the 22,000 members of the National Association of Grocers, 13,000 have reported extortion or threats, and at least five have been killed in related conflicts.
Stronger alliances toward total dismantling
Between 2021 and 2026, coordinated operations have resulted in the capture of at least 50 members of Los Pulpos in joint operations between Peru and Chile, including leaders, operators, and front men. The recent international operation that targeted the organization’s network in Chile has, according to authorities, significantly weakened the group’s presence there.
Yarangua noted that while Peruvian security forces continue to make sustained efforts against organized crime, institutional challenges remain. “However, with greater coordination between Peru and its neighboring countries, it would be possible to make more decisive progress in dismantling this criminal organization,” he said.
These efforts reflect a broader trend toward deeper regional cooperation against organized crime. Governments across Latin America increasingly rely on intelligence sharing, joint investigations, and coordinated police operations to dismantle criminal networks operating across borders.
The capture in Bolivia of the partner of alias Jhonsson Pulpo not only represents an operational coup, but also demonstrates the effectiveness of international collaboration frameworks when implemented with ongoing coordination, intelligence sharing, and harmonized legal procedures between countries.
The continuity of these coordinated efforts will be crucial to maintaining pressure on transnational criminal organizations such as Los Pulpos and consolidating the progress achieved across the Andean region.
