Money for rank, moving through the president's own security detail
En las primeras horas del 26 de diciembre de 2022, el Perú fue escenario de una operación que puso en evidencia una verdad incómoda: que la jerarquía policial, institución encargada de custodiar el orden, habría sido convertida en mercancía. Seis personas fueron detenidas, entre ellas tres generales, acusadas de haber comprado sus ascensos durante el gobierno de Pedro Castillo a un precio de entre veinte y treinta mil dólares. La corrupción, cuando anida en las estructuras del poder legítimo, no solo corroe una institución; corroe la confianza misma en que el Estado puede proteger a quienes dice servir.
- Veintiséis allanamientos simultáneos en siete regiones del país revelaron la magnitud de una red que habría convertido los ascensos policiales en transacciones comerciales.
- Tres generales en actividad fueron detenidos, pero los dos hombres más directamente señalados —el excomandante general Javier Gallardo y el general Pedro Villanueva— permanecían prófugos al cierre de la operación.
- El mecanismo de la corrupción pasaba por los propios escoltas presidenciales, conocidos como 'Las Sombras', quienes habrían actuado como intermediarios del dinero entre los oficiales y el entorno de Castillo.
- El allanamiento de la vivienda del exministro de Defensa Walter Ayala amplió el horizonte de la investigación hacia la cúpula civil del gobierno, aunque sin una detención inmediata.
- La fuga de los principales implicados dejó incompleta una operación que, de otro modo, habría representado un golpe contundente contra la corrupción en las fuerzas del orden.
La mañana del 26 de diciembre de 2022, fiscales y policías ejecutaron de forma simultánea veintiséis allanamientos en Lima y seis regiones más del país. El objetivo era desmantelar una red que, según los investigadores, había puesto a la venta los ascensos dentro de la Policía Nacional del Perú durante el primer año del gobierno de Pedro Castillo.
Al mediodía, seis personas habían sido detenidas. Tres eran generales en actividad: Nicasio Zapata Suclupe, al mando del Frente Policial de Tumbes; Manuel Rivera López, jefe de la región Tacna-Moquegua; y Luis Legua Egocheaga, responsable del Frente Policial del Vraem. Completaban la lista un mayor en retiro, un suboficial que había sido guardaespaldas de Castillo y un civil. Sin embargo, la figura central de la investigación, el excomandante general Javier Gallardo, no fue encontrado pese a la orden de detención preliminar dictada por el juez Jhon Pillaca Valdez. Tampoco apareció el general Pedro Villanueva Nole.
El esquema era directo: oficiales pagaban entre veinte y treinta mil dólares para ser ascendidos a generales. En agosto de 2022, Bruno Pacheco, exsecretario general de la presidencia, había declarado ante los fiscales que al menos diez policías obtuvieron sus ascensos a cambio de dinero. Los pagos habrían circulado a través de dos suboficiales de la seguridad presidencial apodados 'Las Sombras'.
La operación fue conducida por el Equipo Especial contra la Corrupción del Poder, liderado por la fiscal Marita Barreto. Los agentes también allanaron la vivienda y las oficinas del exministro de Defensa Walter Ayala en el distrito limeño de Santiago de Surco, sin proceder a su detención, lo que sugirió que la investigación podría extenderse más allá de la jerarquía policial.
Los seis detenidos quedaron bajo custodia por diez días mientras la fiscalía consolidaba su caso. Pero la ausencia de Gallardo y Villanueva ensombreció los resultados de la jornada: los dos hombres más comprometidos en el esquema seguían libres, y su fuga hablaba por sí sola sobre la gravedad de lo que enfrentaban.
On the morning of December 26, 2022, police and prosecutors fanned out across Peru in a coordinated sweep. Twenty-six raids unfolded simultaneously in Lima, Cusco, Tacna, Piura, Lambayeque, Ucayali, and Áncash. The target was a scheme that had allegedly hollowed out the legitimacy of the National Police itself: officers buying their way up the ranks.
By midday, six people were in custody. Three of them wore the stars of generals. Nicasio Zapata Suclupe commanded the Tumbes Police Front. Manuel Rivera López ran the Tacna-Moquegua region. Luis Legua Egocheaga headed the Vraem Police Front. Also detained were a retired major named Luis Tuesta Ramón, a subordinate officer named Jorge Tarrillo Gálvez who had worked as a bodyguard to former president Pedro Castillo, and a man named Oscar Luis Monge Macarlupu. But the central figure remained missing. Javier Gallardo, the former commander-in-chief of the entire National Police, had not been found despite a preliminary detention order issued by Judge Jhon Pillaca Valdez of the Sixth Preparatory Investigation Court. Another general, Pedro Villanueva Nole, who led the Cusco region, was also nowhere to be found.
The investigation centered on a simple transaction: money for rank. According to prosecutors, officers had paid between twenty and thirty thousand dollars apiece to become generals during 2021, the first year of Castillo's government. The mechanism was equally straightforward. In August 2022, Bruno Pacheco, who had served as Castillo's general secretary, told prosecutors that at least ten police officers had advanced through the ranks in exchange for cash. The money, he said, had moved through the presidential security detail—specifically through two subofficial bodyguards nicknamed "Las Sombras," or The Shadows. One was Tarrillo Gálvez, now in custody. The other was Nilo Irigoin Chávez.
The Special Team Against Corruption of Power, led by prosecutor Marita Barreto, had secured the detention order and the sweeping authority to search homes and offices, intercept communications, and break down doors. The raids extended beyond the police hierarchy. Agents also searched the residence and offices of Walter Ayala, the former defense minister, in the Santiago de Surco district of Lima. Ayala was not arrested, but the fact that his home was being searched suggested the investigation might reach higher into the civilian government than the police alone.
As the operation unfolded, Manuel Rivera López was being transported from Tacna to Lima. The preliminary detention order would hold the six in custody for ten days while prosecutors built their case. But the absence of Gallardo and Villanueva cast a shadow over the operation's completeness. Two of the men most directly implicated in the scheme remained at large, and their flight suggested they understood the weight of what was coming.
Citações Notáveis
At least ten officers of the National Police advanced in their positions in exchange for money— Bruno Pacheco, former presidential general secretary, to prosecutors in August 2022
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would officers pay tens of thousands of dollars for a promotion they'd eventually earn anyway?
Because in 2021, under Castillo, the normal path was blocked or slow. If you had the money and the right connections—through the presidential security detail—you could skip the line. It was a shortcut that cost real money.
And the money went where, exactly?
That's what prosecutors are still working out. It moved through the bodyguards, "Las Sombras." Whether it stopped there or went higher into the administration—that's the question the raids on Ayala's home suggest they're pursuing.
Why did Pacheco come forward in August if this happened in 2021?
He was the general secretary of the presidential office. He would have known about it, maybe even facilitated it. By August 2022, the Castillo government was already fracturing. Pacheco may have decided to protect himself by cooperating.
The fact that Gallardo is still missing—does that change the investigation?
It complicates it. He's the former commander-in-chief. If he's fled, he's signaling that he knows what's coming and doesn't plan to face it. That makes him a priority, and his absence is itself evidence of consciousness of guilt.
What happens to the officers already detained?
They have ten days in custody while prosecutors gather evidence. Some may cooperate in exchange for lighter sentences. Others may stay silent. Either way, the investigation now has momentum and institutional backing.