Four former presidents of Peru have ended up being held at the Barbadillo Prison, located in Lima's Ate district, either to serve preventive detention or to comply with a sentence imposed by the Judiciary.
Learn who they are and the charges they face in court.
The former Heads of State imprisoned at Barbadillo are Pedro Castillo, Alejandro Toledo, Martin Vizcarra, and Ollanta Humala.
Ollanta Humala: Money laundering
Ollanta Moises Humala Tasso was President of Peru from 2011 to 2016.
The retired military officer was in April sentenced, along with his wife, former First Lady Nadine Heredia, to 15 years in prison for money laundering in connection with the financing of the Nationalist Party's election campaigns in 2006 and 2011.
Nadine Heredia is in Brazil, a country that granted her diplomatic asylum. Therefore, she could not be apprehended by the police following the sentencing.
Humala returned to prison after eight years, having first been sent to Barbadillo in 2017 to serve a preventive detention order.
The initial measure also applied to his wife, who was held at the Women's Annex Prison in Lima's Chorrillos district. Both were released eight months later, in April 2018.
Years later, the Judiciary ruled in first instance that they were guilty of money laundering and ordered them to be sent back to prison to serve their sentence. Humala has been held at Barbadillo since April 15, 2025.
Pedro Castillo: Crime of rebellion
Jose Pedro Castillo Terrones was President of the Republic from July 2021 to December 2022.
Castillo has been held at Barbadillo Prison since December 2022 under a preventive detention order. He is facing oral trial for the alleged crime of rebellion.
After delivering an Address to the Nation with the intention of establishing an emergency government, Castillo was removed from office by the Congress of the Republic and immediately arrested.
The former top official is charged with rebellion and conspiracy and is serving 36-month preventive detention at Barbadillo prison.
Similarly, Castillo Terrones is under investigation for alleged influence peddling in favor of family members and for allegedly being the leader of a criminal organization during his term.
Alejandro Toledo: Interoceanic Highway and Ecoteva
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique served as President of the country from 2001 to 2006.
According to the Public Ministry's investigation, former Odebrecht Director in Peru, Jorge Barata, told authorities that Toledo Manrique had received US$20 million as part of a bribe to secure the construction of the South Interoceanic Highway's stretches 2 and 3.
Moreover, Toledo Manrique was accused of receiving US$6 million in exchange for the Intersur consortium winning the bid for section 4 of the same project.
Martin Vizcarra: Lomas de Ilo and Moquegua Hospital Case
As Vice-President, Martin Vizcarra Cornejo assumed the Presidency of the Republic in March 2018, following the resignation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
Vizcarra was impeached and removed from office by the Congress of the Republic in November 2020.
He is being prosecuted in the Moquegua Hospital and Lomas de Ilo cases, stemming from his time as governor of the aforementioned region (2011–2014).
According to the Public Ministry, part of the money may have been received in 2016, when he was already Minister of Transportation and Communications and Vice President of the Republic.
The former top official was facing the oral trial under a simple appearance order which, in the view of Judge Jorge Chavez Tamariz (head of the Seventh National Preliminary Investigation Court), was not sufficient to guarantee his trial.
(END) CVC/MVB
Published: 8/17/2025