Los Pulpos, the gang of four brothers who spread terror in Peru and Chile
The criminal organization kidnaps, extorts and murders. Now, some of its members have been photographed sharing a sauna with police officers
In 2022, the body of a businessman — the owner of a car wash — was found buried on Las Delicias beach in Trujillo, a major city north of Lima. Criminals dressed as police officers kidnapped him from his business, held him captive for five months, collected a ransom of 120,000 Peruvian soles ($32,432) and then murdered him. The victim, 75-year-old Manuel Rodríguez Cruzado, the father of a former local mayor, was buried with his ears cut off. His hands were tied up and he had a rag stuffed in his mouth.
The mutilation of ears and fingers is one of the most common practices of Los Pulpos (“The Octopuses”), a criminal organization dedicated to robbery, extortion and murder since the 1990s. It’s a family gang, led by four brothers, which emerged in the Cruz Verde shantytown in the province of Trujillo. Data from 2017 reveals that half of the population in the district of El Porvenir where the shantytown is located lives in poverty.
Miller, Niltón, Eddy and Jhon — the Cruz Arce brothers — started out as a gang, committing small-time crimes. But they grew until they became a sinister network. Merchants must pay them monthly fees to avoid ending up like Rodríguez Cruzado.
The leaders of Los Pulpos spent several periods in prison for different reasons: Miller shot and killed a policeman. Niltón raped a woman and a girl. And Jhon shot his ex-partner and her lover. A decade ago, when the brothers were behind bars, it was thought that the gang would come to an end… but an even more bloodthirsty criminal ended up taking over.
Jhonsson Smit Cruz Torres, Jhon’s son, was the heir apparent. Under his reign, kidnappings increased, while the tentacles of Los Pulpos also extended into Santiago, Chile, where the gang has sown terror among the sizable Peruvian diaspora community. In 2020, Jhonsson pretended to be dead, in order to continue committing crimes. He falsified a death certificate. He’s still being pursued by the police. The Peruvian state is offering 500,000 soles ($135,000) for any information that facilitates his capture.
This past week, a photograph was published by the media outlet Radio Programas del Perú (RPP), causing widespread outrage. In the picture, three non-commissioned officers from the Trujillo police department pose smilingly in a sauna, alongside four alleged members of Los Pulpos. The three officials are Carlos Rojas García, from the Special Services Unit; Carlos Ángel Vera García, from the Kidnapping and Extortion Division; as well as Officer Luis Enrique Teatino Inoñán. Sitting in a pool, the atmosphere appears to be one of camaraderie. The four alleged criminals are nicknamed Castrejón, Colmillo, El Contador, and Garc.
The Peruvian Ministry of the Interior issued a letter, stating that the police personnel in the photo have been reassigned while an administrative disciplinary procedure is opened, in order to formally discharge them. “Those who get involved with criminal organizations, in any way, have no place in the National Police and will be removed [...] There will be no tolerance or [solidarity],” the statement reads.
The alliances between the bad elements of the institution and organized crime aren’t isolated events. According to figures from the Peruvian Public Ministry, 179 police officers were convicted of acts of corruption nationwide in 2024. In November of 2024, a report by the Sunday television show Cuarto Poder exposed links between the National Police and Los Pulpos. In an unusual event, an armed member of the gang — Edwar Medina Llerena, alias “Kukín” — was arrested while he was riding in a police patrol car. Two law enforcement officers escorted him to his house, as if he were a member of the authorities. Kukín was carrying two pistols in his backpack.
New information has emerged regarding the controversial photograph. One of the alleged gangsters — nicknamed “Garc” — has told the media that he isn’t a criminal, but rather a businessman who’s been extorted by the gang in the past. He claims that the police officers pictured with him are his friends, because they defended him from having to make extortion payments, while the other three people in the picture work for his companies. He says that José Camus, alias “Colmillo,” and Johan Rivasplata, alias “Castrejón,” are supervisors who provide private security at events. And he claims that Frank Tirado, alias “El Contador” (the accountant), does the books for one of his firms.
“All of them have extensive experience and their hiring was done after a thorough process of evaluations and background checks. I’m not [a member of Los Pulpos]. I don’t know who leaked this photo to the police, but they haven’t corroborated anything. This is nonsense,” says Guillermo Ruiz Carbajal. He adds that he’ll be suing the National Police and the Ministry of the Interior.
Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén insists that the police officers in the photo have links to Los Pulpos. “The citizen from Trujillo — who may have felt affected by the statement that has been made — can freely exercise his right to file a complaint or a lawsuit as appropriate. We will wait for the investigations to be carried out, in order to confirm if we’re dealing with an error or not,” he said.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Juan José Santiváñez has warned that he will counter-sue Ruiz Carbajal. “If the businessman is going to sue the police, let him do so. But we’re going to counter-sue him, for a simple reason: at what point was he indicted? We haven’t indicted him. We have only referred to the police officers who — according to the Disciplinary Regime Law — will be subjected to a disciplinary process,” he clarified.
Santiváñez’s statement isn’t well supported based on his track record. In October of 2024, he announced the arrest of a supposed leader of the terrorist organization Sendero Luminoso (“Shining Path”). However, the detainee actually turned out to be a brother of Shining Path leader Quispe Palomino: a man who wasn’t a fugitive and has never held a high position in the organization. And, at the end of January, Santiváñez revealed the name of an alleged member of an extortion mafia but it turned out that the suspect, who has no warrants against him, is a night watchman for the Lima City Hall. This begs the question: is this another misstep by the Minister of the Interior, or conclusive proof of links between the Peruvian police and organized crime?
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition