Peru’s National Police stopped a suspected drug-trafficking band called Los Patrones de la Marimba in Ventanilla after finding 15 kilos of marijuana buried in the patio of a house used as a hideout.[1] Police said the group supplied micro-dealers in the Pachacútec area and was detained as it was about to make a delivery.[1] The Escuadrón Verde police unit detained the alleged ringleader Rubén Cahuascanco Yucra, 36, alias Caracortada, his partner Lady Torres Rosas, 28, alias Bizcochito, and Andrés Atto Arteaga, 18, alias Moquillo.[2] The operation began when officers spotted a mototaxi, a three-wheeled taxi, that the suspects allegedly used to hand out the drug.[2]

Officers found the 15 kilos in three separate places in the house: part inside the mototaxi, part stored in the bedrooms, and the largest share buried in the back patio, where officers had to dig the packages out with shovels.[2] A pitbull belonging to the suspects guarded the packages buried in the patio.[1] Police said the marijuana was already divided by kilos to make distribution easier.[1] Officers also seized mobile phones, and the detainees were handed to the Callao anti-drug unit Dirandro.[1] Police said the suspects promoted the marijuana in videos sent to a list of clients.[1]

Colonel Carlos Alcántara, head of the Escuadrón Verde, said the marijuana was buried in a hole dug in the patio so the smell would not spread and give the activity away.[3] The group distributed marijuana by delivery from its Ventanilla base to micro-dealers across Callao.[3] Cahuascan told officers he was paid 50 soles for each distribution run and said he did not buy the drug, only moved it.[3] The three detainees were taken to the Callao prison and left at the disposal of the judicial authorities.[3]