On the night of Saturday, September 12, 1992, a team of agents from the Peruvian National Police Special Intelligence Group (GEIN) captured Shining Path terrorist group ringleader, Abimael Guzman, who is now dead.
This was the historic capture that today marks its 33rd anniversary.
The Operacion Victoria (Operation Victory) began that day under the leadership of Benedicto Jimenez and Marco Miyashiro, two police officers who had managed to reach the inner circle of Shining Path's core through GEIN, which had been created in 1990.
Operation Victory begins
Guzman's last day at large began when agents Ana Cecilia Garzon (code-named Seagull) and Julio Becerra (code-named Squirrel) arrived at a shop located next to the house at 459 Varsovia Street (formerly Calle 1) in the Los Sauces neighborhood of Lima's Surquillo district, where Shining Path members Carlos Inchaustegui and Maritza Garrido-Lecca used to live.
Both individuals had rented the house to hide Shining Path's ringleaders, under the guise of a dance academy.
Seagull and Squirrel replaced two male agents at this surveillance point, who were relieved to avoid arousing suspicion among the occupants of the home.
With strong suspicion that Shining Path ringleaders were hiding in that house, the police agents were only awaiting the order to enter, with a clear task: to prevent at all costs the front door from being closed once the visitors received by Garrido-Lecca and Inchaustegui had left.
Waiting for the right moment meant that Squirrel and Seagull had to stay in the storage room next to the house under surveillance, trying not to raise suspicion or alert the neighbors.
"We bought a 50-cent soda and a small bag of corn snacks. Those were the longest four hours of our lives," recalls Ana Cecilia Garzon, who at the time was already Becerra's partner.
The couple acted as they were: two lovers passing the time talking and keeping watch, regardless of the cold in the afternoon and the night that was approaching.
Gaviota had a radio in her purse, which she used to discreetly communicate with the other agents keeping watch nearby.
The perimeter was ready and gradually tightening.
Around 8:00 p.m. (local time), movements were heard inside the home. Half an hour later, the doors opened and the visitors left. That is when Seagull and Squirrel looked at each other and nodded: "This is the moment."
They drew their weapons, identified themselves as police agents, and ordered everyone to stay still. Maritza Garrido-Lecca began shouting that they were being robbed.
Inchaustegui lunged at Squirrel in an attempt to take her weapon, but Seagull reacted by firing a shot into the air. That shot was the signal the other agents had been waiting for to take action.
With the detainees face down on the ground, Squirrel entered the house. On the first landing of the stairs, he saw a woman who then hid on the second floor; he followed her to a room where he found Abimael Guzman sitting behind a desk.
"If you move, I'll kill you," he warned him. The Shining Path ringleader had been captured, 12 years after declaring war on Peru.
"Positive for Cacheton"
"We've got Cacheton (Big-cheeked), we've got Cacheton (…)," "positive for Cacheton (…)," the agents could be heard saying over the radio.
Until then, the last known image of Guzman's appearance was a photo taken in 1982, when he was arrested by the police.
Over the years, there had been speculation about his health, his whereabouts, and it was even said that he had died.
Everything changed on December 31, 1991, when a house in the Balconcillo neighborhood, Lima's La Victoria district, was raided, and nine boxes containing documents and other materials were found.
In one of them was the valuable video showing the Shining Path ringleaders dancing to "Zorba the Greek."
The Shining Path ringleaders were no longer ghosts; their faces emerged from anonymity, and GEIN took a major step toward its goal: the capture of the so-called Camarada Gonzalo (Comrade Gonzalo), who appeared in the video dancing alongside Elena Yparraguirre, his partner and the organization's number two.
The trail leading to Guzman's capture continued until December 31, 1991, when GEIN raided several properties, including a house at 265 Buenavista Street in Chacarilla del Estanque, Lima's San Borja district, where Guzman Reinoso was suspected of hiding.
The GEIN members did not find him there, but they collected evidence of his existence.
The agents confirmed that the box containing the "Zorba the Greek" video had been moved, along with other items, from the Buenavista house. The net was closing in.
Guzman Reinoso would henceforth be known as Cacheton to GEIN members, who devoted themselves to intensive intelligence work. Disguised as beggars, musicians, garbage collectors, surveyors, or street vendors, they finally managed to identify the lair of the bloodthirsty criminal.
Guzman and the Shining Path ringleaders were sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of terrorism, accused of being responsible for attacks, targeted killings, and acts of sabotage.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission attributes to Shining Path the highest number of crimes and massacres during the period of violence.
In September 2018, Guzman and the other ringleaders of Shining Path's central committee were sentenced to another life imprisonment in the Tarata case.
Abimael Guzman died on September 11, 2021, one day before the 29th anniversary of his capture.
(END) FHG/JCC/MVB
Published: 9/12/2025