Jungle gang in Peru killing people to steal their fat, selling it on black market for cosmetics
By Brian Kates
Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, November 20th 2009, 9:21 AM
Peruvian police have captured several members of a remote jungle gang that kills people for their fat, which they purportedly sell on the black market for use in cosmetics.
One suspect told police that the killers would cut off their victims' heads and limbs, remove the organs and suspended the torsos from hooks over candles to melt fat from the bodies.
Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police.
Two suspects who were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon. Police displayed two bottles of amber-colored fluid seized from the suspects which testing proved to be human fat.
Police dubbed the jungle-based gang the "Pishtacos" after a Peruvian myth of Incas who killed to extract human fat, quartering their victims with machetes.
The suspects told police the fat was sold to intermediaries in Lima. Mejia said he suspects the fat was sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, but had no proof.
One gang member, Elmer Segundo Castillejos, 29, led police to the rotted severed head of one victim in coca-growing valley last month, Mejia said.
Six members of the gang have eluded capture, including the leader, Hilario Cudena, 56, who Castillejos said has been killing to extract fat from victims for more than three decades.
At least 60 people this year have been reported missing in drug-drenched Huanuco province, an area controlled by leftist rebels where the gang allegedly operates.
On Nov. 3, police arrested two suspects at a Lima bus station with a quart of human fat in a soda bottle.
Their testimony led to the arrest of Castillejos three days later at the same bus station. The three are charged with homicide, criminal conspiracy, illegal firearms possession and drug trafficking, according to a statement from Lima Superior Court.
Police said they were searching for the alleged buyer. Mejia said Castillejos claimed his was not the only gang engaged in such killings.
Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat,but Yale University dermatology professor Dr. Lisa Donofrio told the Associate Press that a small market may exist for "human fat extracts" to keep skin supple.
She said such treatments are "pure baloney."
Jungle gang in Peru killing people to steal their fat, selling it on black market for cosmetics
By Brian Kates
Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, November 20th 2009, 9:21 AM
Peruvian police have captured several members of a remote jungle gang that kills people for their fat, which they purportedly sell on the black market for use in cosmetics.
One suspect told police that the killers would cut off their victims' heads and limbs, remove the organs and suspended the torsos from hooks over candles to melt fat from the bodies.
Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police.
Two suspects who were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon. Police displayed two bottles of amber-colored fluid seized from the suspects which testing proved to be human fat.
Police dubbed the jungle-based gang the "Pishtacos" after a Peruvian myth of Incas who killed to extract human fat, quartering their victims with machetes.
The suspects told police the fat was sold to intermediaries in Lima. Mejia said he suspects the fat was sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, but had no proof.
One gang member, Elmer Segundo Castillejos, 29, led police to the rotted severed head of one victim in coca-growing valley last month, Mejia said.
Six members of the gang have eluded capture, including the leader, Hilario Cudena, 56, who Castillejos said has been killing to extract fat from victims for more than three decades.
At least 60 people this year have been reported missing in drug-drenched Huanuco province, an area controlled by leftist rebels where the gang allegedly operates.
On Nov. 3, police arrested two suspects at a Lima bus station with a quart of human fat in a soda bottle.
Their testimony led to the arrest of Castillejos three days later at the same bus station. The three are charged with homicide, criminal conspiracy, illegal firearms possession and drug trafficking, according to a statement from Lima Superior Court.
Police said they were searching for the alleged buyer. Mejia said Castillejos claimed his was not the only gang engaged in such killings.
Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat,but Yale University dermatology professor Dr. Lisa Donofrio told the Associate Press that a small market may exist for "human fat extracts" to keep skin supple.
She said such treatments are "pure baloney."
Jungle gang in Peru killing people to steal their fat, selling it on black market for cosmetics
