The centrality of the mining industry in the Peruvian economy is accompanied by the costs of operating in high risk environments. In addition to contracting the national armed forces and the Peruvian National Police to deal with the identified threats—which includes organised crime—a research project supported by ICoCA reveals that mining companies increasingly interact with private security companies. This engagement combined with the preventative mandates of PSCs reveals a structural imbalance between the threats facing mining and the tools available to protect it. It is important to recognise the new actors involved, the limits of traditional responses, and the cost of inaction, to not only build a comprehensive national security architecture but also to protect Peru’s economic interests.
I. Introduction
Mining is a cornerstone of Peru’s economy, attracting billions in investment and generating majority of the country’s export revenues. Yet, despite its strategic importance, legal mining operations increasingly operate in high-risk environments.
Over the past decade, companies have reported more than a hundred violent incidents involving organized criminal actors—ranging from extortion and theft to incursions by illegal mining groups. This article presents findings from a research project supported by ICoCA, aimed at generating evidence on how organized crime is taking root in and around legal mining contexts in Peru. Drawing on desk research and semi-structured interviews with mining professionals and private security experts, the study identified four main types of threats affecting operations and assessed the capacity of current private security frameworks to respond effectively. As these risks intensify and diversify, the possible future involvement of private military and security companies (PMSCs) is becoming a more tangible—and contested—scenario.
Mining has always been essential to Peru’s economy and will continue to be. Mining has played a key role in shaping the country’s political and economic landscape. Foreign investment has driven the sector’s growth, reaching unprecedented levels since privatization in the 1990s, when over a dozen international companies invested billions of dollars. Peru is a global mining powerhouse, home to some of the world’s largest metal and mineral reserves. It holds the largest silver reserves and the second-largest copper reserves in the world. Additionally, it ranks among the world’s top producers of silver, zinc, lead, copper, and gold. Mining has long been a key driver of economic growth, benefiting from the commodity boom (2007–2012) and recent post-pandemic price peaks. In 2023, it accounted for 9.1% of the national GDP and 63.4% of total exports. In 2022, 564 General Regime mining companies and 1022 ASM cooperatives operated across more than 1.9 million hectares of exploration and extraction areas. The mining investment portfolio for the next decade includes 51 mining projects and a combined investment of more than US$ 54.5 billion. To ensure uninterrupted operations, mining companies must protect their assets, infrastructure, and workforce – safeguarding production continuity, investor confidence, and regulatory compliance. It is also Peru’s leading source of foreign exchange.
II. Introduction Key External Threats to Mining in Peru
Over the past decades, mining companies have tackled four key external threats by contracting the national armed forces, signing agreements with the Peruvian National Police, and hiring hundreds of private security firms. These security providers have been essential in addressing the following threats over the past five decades.
(i) The Threat of Terrorism: The 1980s were critical for terrorist attacks in Peru and worldwide. As seen in other regions, attacks on the Peruvian mining sector sought to control unions, steal minerals, and explosives or sabotage equipment. For over a decade, the state struggled to contain ‘Shining Path’, particularly in rural areas, where they targeted mining camps, railways and key infrastructure. The violence discouraged investment and led to the outsourcing of mining security to the police corps, the armed forces and private security companies. Although the threat has diminished, it persists in specific regions and under particular circumstances.
(ii) The Threat of Social Conflicts: Since 2000, social and environmental conflicts in mining areas have increased. As investment expanded, communities increasingly scrutinized extractive operations, raising concerns that, in some cases, escalated into protests, blockades, property damage, and sporadic violent incidents requiring intervention by the Peruvian National Police. These conflicts affected the profitability and operational continuity of mining sites. To manage them, the “Social License to Operate” was promoted, aiming for local community acceptance, along with corporate social responsibility strategies.
(iii) The Threat of Illegal Mining: Since the early 2000s, illegal mining has increasingly become a significant threat. It is defined by (i) the use of inadequate machinery, (ii) lack of regulatory compliance and (iii) operation in prohibited areas. The illegal extraction and trade of minerals have become a key source of illicit income. This phenomenon has been widely documented in Colombia, Venezuela, the Brazilian Amazon, Bolivia, and Ecuador. In Peru, illegal mining, centred on gold, coal, and copper, operates in over half of the country. It has led to loss of biodiversity in indigenous and native community territories due to the lack of environmental safety measures in chemical use and has been linked to the assassination of indigenous leaders and environmental defenders. For formal mining companies, illegal mining represents the invasion of mining concessions, mineral theft, armed violence, and infiltration into supply chains.
(iv) The Threat of Organised Crime: Over the last 15 years, organised crime has emerged as a key actor in the legal and non-legal mining ecosystem. In addition to committing predatory crimes, organised criminal groups have integrated extractive operations and the illegal commercialization of minerals into their structures. The profits from exporting illegally extracted minerals allow them to finance themselves, expand, and diversify their illicit activities. Their presence in mining, documented in Latin America and Africa, manifests in different criminal ways: extortion and “protection” payments from workers and companies; trafficking of illegally extracted minerals; assassinations of security personnel and community leaders; infiltration into companies and contractors, kidnappings and homicides; theft of mineral shipments and concentrates. These activities generate multimillion-dollar losses globally and expose the vulnerabilities of the sector’s logistical networks.
III. Responses to Security Threats in Peru’s Mining Sector
The evolution of these threats has led to their overlap in certain legal mining environments. However, despite existing measures, critical gaps may persist in controlling threats, minimizing damage and mitigating associated risks, which remain challenging to fully identify and address.
(i) Due to their counterinsurgency activities during the 1980s and 1990s, the armed forces in some highland regions received in-kind payments from formal mining companies in exchange for monitoring mining operations and patrolling areas of direct influence. However, after the return to democracy in 2000, budgetary constraints forced army battalions to provide various services to private actors, including mining companies. After facing the terrorist threat, the armed forces now primarily engage in territorial protection operations, particularly on the reduction of illegal mining activities through military bases established in the Amazon.
(ii) The police are constitutionally mandated to ensure public security against threats within national territory. However, despite equipping personnel through institutional agreements between mining companies and the Ministry of the Interior, the police face operational limitations that prevent them from permanently covering nearly 2 million hectares of exploration and exploitation mining fields. Their role is largely restricted to monitoring key mining corridors and providing security to some companies. To foster dialogue and agreements, the prevailing trend is to apply instruments of social and community relations that focus on managing social impacts, addressing community expectations, promoting dialogue with local populations, and mitigating socio-environmental conflicts.
(iii) The literature classifies two types of companies that outsource security functions: Private Military and Security Companies (PMSC) and Private Security Companies (PSC). In Peru, PMSC operations are not permitted.
Although some foreign PSCs may provide some of these services, PMSCs operate within a specialized niche focused primarily on combat operations, tactical support and covert missions, intelligence and reconnaissance, logistics and supply, demining and explosive ordnance disposal, personnel rescue and extraction, VIP protection and disaster relief operations. In contrast, PSCs are primarily known for providing safety (risk prevention) and security (threat reduction) services. In Peru, in contrast with the rest of the world, the only regulated business opportunities include private surveillance, alarm and alert system monitoring, cash-in-transit services, technological security solutions, workplace health and safety, industrial security, and environmental security.
The expansion of security companies and the growing number of security agents have made the sector increasingly relevant in the 21st century. Private companies—particularly mining companies—account for two-thirds of the security private market in Peru. These services are legally defined as preventive activities or measures aimed at safeguarding and protecting the life and physical integrity of individuals, as well as the assets of both individuals and companies. Legal private security services include private surveillance (mobile or stationary), security technology, personal protection, cash and valuables transportation, controlled goods custody, and event security.
Private security companies provide services to mining operations covering more than 1.5 million hectares across 23 regions of the country. Their primary offerings include security technologies—such as geolocation and fleet management, inventory control, intrusion alarms, remote operation centres, security camera monitoring and communication protocols—and private surveillance services, including cash and valuables transportation, access control, security escorts, identity and cargo verification, personnel transport security, and armed surveillance. A key characteristic of these services is that they operate in rural areas with complex geography, limited police presence, no public services, and significant distances from urban centres.
IV. Following a Preventative Approach
In Peru, PSCs selling regulated services cannot prosecute or investigate crimes, nor can they operate like the police. These limitations prevent them from acting as a first line of defence against threats. Furthermore, in all analysed cases, personnel are instructed not to use firearms to avoid lethal incidents. As a result, their role has primarily centred on preventing and deterring potential threats, though emerging challenges continue to test their resilience and adaptability.
- In contexts of social and political conflict, private security companies continuously update their knowledge on the legitimate use of force and human rights principles. Their personnel receive tactical training in conflict de-escalation and intervention protocols. Additionally, they gather information on illicit activities in the area to generate early warnings and prevent attacks. This work is complemented by coordinated efforts with community relations teams and law enforcement, ensuring a comprehensive response aligned with the current legal framework.
- To safeguard the integrity of security teams, companies hire personnel from outside the area of operation, reducing the risk of ties to local social actors and criminal networks. Strict screening processes are also implemented, including polygraph tests, criminal background checks, and internal audits, ensuring a high level of reliability.
- In the event of mining concession invasions, private security prioritises risk reduction, and damage control. Emergency protocols are reinforced, internal communication channels are optimized to protect personnel and assets, and immediate alerts are sent to authorities to enable a rapid response.
- To counter organised theft within facilities, surveillance systems are installed inside the mine, along its perimeter, and at access points. These are complemented by regular patrols, radio communication, and drone monitoring. This deployment not only serves as a deterrent but also provides key audio-visual evidence (modus operandi, number of assailants, weapons used, timing), facilitating law enforcement intervention.
- In cases of extortion, the focus is on early detection and alerting authorities. Continuous training programs help personnel identify suspicious patterns and generate detailed reports that enable swift action. Specialized informational materials are also provided to security staff, enhancing the collection of useful evidence for formal complaints.
This highlights a crucial issue: predatory organised crime—through extortion, theft, illegal mining, and property invasion—lacks an ideological foundation for dialogue and does not resemble terrorist organizations, making traditional intelligence and containment strategies ineffective. The surge in mineral theft, attacks on transport convoys, and extortion of workers and businesses has escalated nationwide, fuelled by illegal mining profits. While not a new phenomenon, this pattern has intensified over the past decade.
V. A Critical Situation Requiring a Reassessment of Response Strategies
Private security firms and mining companies have adopted various preventive measures, including personnel screening, transport route monitoring, and containment strategies. However, the vast and remote mining areas, combined with the decentralized nature of criminal groups focused solely on profit, make risk assessment, and prevention particularly challenging. Given these complexities, it is essential (1) to reassess the role of dialogue and social and community relations in addressing this threat, while also recognizing the urgent need for effective tools to deal with criminal actors, for whom dialogue alone is ineffective. (2) There is a growing possibility that Peru may move toward regulating the involvement of military security companies to support private security firms in combating organized crime, raising important questions about legal and policy reforms. If military security companies become part of the solution, what safeguards will ensure their accountability? Which countries will they come from, and what standards, track records, and oversight mechanisms will govern their operations? Even though the key question for Peru is whether the state can uphold everyone’s human rights and security protocols without compromising them in the fight against organised crime and financial crimes.
VI. A Structural Challenge
The rise of predatory organised crime within and around legal mining operations in Peru presents a challenge that existing frameworks—legal, institutional, and operational—are struggling to contain. While private security companies have adapted with increasingly sophisticated tools and protocols, they remain limited in their mandate and capacity. What we are witnessing is not merely a security gap, but a structural imbalance between the threats facing legal mining and the tools available to protect it.
A future strategy must go beyond piecemeal responses. It requires a coordinated approach that redefines the roles of state, private and potentially military actors, while rigorously safeguarding human rights and democratic principles. More importantly, Peru must confront the uncomfortable but urgent reality: if organized crime continues to expand its influence unchecked, the sustainability of legal mining in Peru—both as an economic engine and as a legitimate activity—will be at risk.
This is not only a matter of protecting companies or infrastructure. It is about defending the rule of law, community safety, everyone’s human rights, health and safe at work and the Peruvian (formal and shadow) economy. Any serious conversation about mining security in the 21st century must start by recognizing the new actors involved, the limits of traditional responses, and the high stakes of inaction. Only then can we begin to build a security architecture capable of confronting organised crime without sacrificing the values we aim to protect.
This contribution is part of a forthcoming Symposium on The Business of Security: New Frontiers and Old Challenges in PMSC Regulation.
The views and opinions presented in this article belong solely to the author and do not necessarily represent the stance of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA).
