Cablegate: Organized Crime Groups (C-Cn5-00417) -- Peru

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIMA 002702

SIPDIS

NOFORN

DEPT FOR INR/I, WHA/AND

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2030
TAGS: PINR PE
SUBJECT: ORGANIZED CRIME GROUPS (C-CN5-00417) -- PERU

REF: A. STATE 80732
B. 04 LIMA 3737

Classified By: A/Polcouns Art Muirhead for Reason 1.4 (B, D)

1. (C/NF) Information requested in Ref A regarding the
activity in Peru of organized crimes groups based in
specified countries is summarized below. The countries
listed are the only ones from those cited in Ref A for which
Embassy agencies possess significant background data.

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Russia
------

2. (U) The case of convicted drug traffickers and arms
smugglers Luis Frank and Jose Luis Aybar Cancho has links to
Russian organized crime. The investigation of the Aybar
Cancho brothers linked them to the unexplained landing of a
Russian aircraft in Iquitos, Peru in March 1999, and to the
Russian firm "Trensa," represented in Peru by Russian citizen
Victor Eugenevich Ivachine. The Aybars were subsequently
found to be involved in the illicit shipment of Russian arms
through Jordan to the FARC in Colombia. The Aybars are
currently on trial in Peru for arms smuggling. Peru has
authorized their extradition to face drug trafficking charges
in the U.S. once their local trial has concluded.

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Japan
-----

3. (C) Ref B describes a case of Peruvians victimized by the
Japanese Yazuka in a trafficking in persons and prostitution
scheme. At least three women are known to have been
recruited in this fashion, although the number of actual
victims may be far greater. In the instant case, two
Peruvians of Japanese descent, Maria del Pilar Yataco
Nakarone and (FNU) Morishima, made false promises to Peruvian
women that they would receive legitimate employment in
Narita, Japan. When the women arrived, their handlers took
away their passports, raped them, and held them captive for
three days. They were eventually sold to a Yazuka member in
Nagoya identified as (FNU) Yamata. The Peruvians were forced
to work as prostitutes along with other foreign women (Thais,
Filipinos, Brazilians, Venezuelans and Chinese), and told
their families would be killed if they attempted to return
home. The three women eventually escaped their servitude,
and two were repatriated with GOP assistance.

4. (U) The Peruvian media have focused attention on the
associates of former President Alberto Fujimori since he
became a fugitive in Japan after abandoning Peru. In an
interview in the June 2, 2005 edition of leading news
magazine "Caretas," Peruvian Ambassador to Japan Luis
Macchiavello listed a number of shady individuals who have
become supporters of Fujimori since the latter's flight to
Japan: Muneo Suzuki (a former federal deputy jailed for
bribery); Satomi Kataoka (Fujimori's alleged paramour,
accused in 2003 of tax evasion); Takeshi Igarashi (arrested
for trade union racketeering); Torao Tokuda (a federal deputy
accused of tax evasion); Shizuka Komei (a federal deputy
involved in a vote-buying scandal); Toshio Yabuki (arrested
for defrauding 3,000 investors of $100 million, including the
sale of commemorative Inca medallions, for which Fujimori was
a principal advisor); and Yasuyuki Kitano (imprisoned for
fraud). Ambassador Macchiavello intimated that several of
these individuals were being investigated by Japanese
authorities for Yazuka connections.

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China
-----

5. (SBU) The Lima DHS Office has identified numerous
instances of smuggling of PRC nationals to the U.S. through
Peru. In the past, Peruvian confederates with lawfully
obtained non-immigrant visas would procure tickets and
boarding passes for flights from Lima to the U.S., then turn
these over to a smuggler, who would use them to board his
Chinese national client on the aircraft. Stricter security
procedures at the Lima international airport have made this
type of fraud harder to perpetrate. Nonetheless, there are
still indications that PRC nationals are able to enter Peru
surreptitiously, fly to the Ecuadorian border, and travel
overland to Guayaquil, their point of departure for
attempting illegal entry into the U.S. Smugglers in the
Chinese community in Peru are said to charge between $10 and
$50 thousand to transport an individual from the PRC to the
U.S.

6. (SBU) The Peruvian firm "Taiwan Tours Travel Agency" has
been linked to obtaining Peruvian visas for Chinese citizens
under false pretenses. The Peruvian brokerage company "Arbol
Grande S.A." has been linked to the printing of fraudulent
stock and bond certificates, which are used by Chinese
clients as false evidence of financial solvency.

7. (SBU) In a July 2003 incident, 12 Chinese arrived in Lima
on a Lan Chile flight from Santiago. All members of the
group claimed to be students from Taiwan, who were on a
long-term study trip, with a routing of Taiwan - Malaysia -
Argentina - Chile - Peru - Costa Rica - Puerto Rico.
Suspicions were aroused when it was noted that all were
traveling with little more than overnight bags. Interviews
at the Taiwanese Embassy in Lima revealed that all but two of
the passports were part of a lot that had been reported
stolen. The two individuals with valid passports (and valid
U.S. visas) were the alien smugglers, identified as WENG,
Chen-Chung (DPOB 10-OCT-78, Taiwan), and YAO, Hung-Wei (DPOB
15-Apr-73, Taipei City).

8. (SBU) The Peruvian National Police (PNP) Interpol Office
is currently investigating a group of Chinese citizens
operating in Trujillo (northern coastal Peru) that is
involved in recruiting Peruvian women to work as prostitutes.
Two years ago, PNP Interpol investigated a group of Chinese
citizens in Lima known as "Dragon Rojo (Red Dragon)" which
was involved in extortion of Peruvians of Chinese descent.
STRUBLE

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