Not cloned after all? Truck linked to Trujillo massacre registered to police officer

A Toyota Hilux tied to the kidnapping of gold trader Jenss Lara and the killing of four people in Trujillo is registered to a member of Peru’s National Police, opening a new line of inquiry in the case.

The white vehicle, bearing plate BNG-906, had been linked by police to an operation carried out by people posing as police officers. Records from Sunarp show that the vehicle’s registered owner is noncommissioned officer Orlando Santos Chávez.

Santos Chávez told the program “Esta noche” that he bought the truck on Aug. 26, just four days before Lara’s kidnapping on Aug. 30. He said the vehicle had recently been moved to Chiclayo and that no police officer had yet arrived to seize it or request his statement.

The officer said he was ready to cooperate and provide documents related to the purchase. “I am fully ready and available to give a statement to completely distance myself from any criminal act,” he said.

The registration became relevant after the National Police said plate BNG-906 had been cloned. According to the police version, the plate originally belonged to a privately owned Toyota Hilux. Investigators must now establish whether the vehicle registered to Santos Chávez is the same one captured during the attack, or whether another vehicle used a cloned plate. The police and prosecutors continue investigating who took part in Lara’s kidnapping and the subsequent killings in Trujillo.

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I am fully ready and available to give a statement to completely distance myself from any criminal act.