The interim president of Peru announced yesterday (Thursday) a new plan in the fight against organized crime that includes stricter conditions custody for certain categories of incarcerated people, as part of an offensive by security forces to stem the tide of extortion and murder in the Andean country.

A new category of incarceration, “maximum security,” will be created in prisons where convicted murderers, kidnappers or racketeers have been sent, caretaker President Jose Heri announced during a ceremony at the presidential palace.

Persons in this category will henceforth be confined in individual cells – in solitary confinement -, will no longer have the right to be visited during the day and will be allowed only one member of their family per month, according to a law published in the official government gazette.

Furthermore, among other things, it provides for the termination of the reduction of sentences.

“This plan is a roadmap to move towards a safer country,” Mr. Heri assured.

Peru, as well as other Latin America countries, have been inspired by the unprecedented success of El Salvador’s prison system introduced by President Bukele.

In two years, the number of complaints to authorities involving extortion more than doubled, from 2,396 to more than 25,000 in 2025. Last year, moreover, 2,200 homicides were recorded, according to police.

This is not the first time caretaker President Heri has announced that he is making prison conditions tougher. At the beginning of his term last year, he limited visits to the most dangerous prisoners and announced measures to prevent the use of cell phones in correctional facilities.

Peru counts 68 prisons where some 102,000 people are incarcerated, according to the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE).