In May 2025, Peru’s President suspended gold mining and announced a 12-hour curfew in Pataz, a region in northern Peru, after criminals kidnapped and killed 13 gold mine workers. According to the Peruvian gold mining company La Poderosa, the contract workers from a local firm were found by police inside one of the mine’s tunnels, after being held captive for more than a week by criminals that authorities believe are linked to illegal mining. In the previous year, illegal gold mining and crime rates in the country had both surged, 2024 saw a 35.9% increase in homicides compared with 2023, and illegal gold mining accounted for 60% of Peru’s total laundered assets between January and October 2024. This massacre brought the total number of artisanal miners and workers killed by criminal gangs in Pataz to 39.