22 July 2026
How Peru is making asset recovery a frontline tool against organised crime
A joint reflection by Iker Lekuona, Director of the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR and Oscar Solórzano, Head of Latin America for ICAR, on how Peru is translating its commitment to combating organised crime into lasting institutional capability. Across Latin America, governments face mounting pressure to respond to organised crime, illicit finance and growing public concerns about security. At the same time, international development budgets are under strain. In this environment, one question keeps resounding: how can countries build capacity to tackle complex criminal threats with greater independence and resilience? For those of us working in asset recovery, the answer lies in institutions. Our goal in building asset recovery capability One of the ambitions behind ICAR’s technical assistance has always been straightforward. We want our partners to reach the point where they no longer rely on us for day-to-day operational support. Our partnerships should evolve towards higher-value strategic collaboration. Technical assistance should leave behind stronger systems, stronger expertise and stronger institutions capable of carrying the work forward independently. This is why recent developments in Peru are particularly significant. A strategic response to financial and organised crime Under the leadership of Attorney General Tomás Aladino Gálvez Villegas, the Public Prosecutor's Office is implementing a series of reforms that embed financial investigation, asset recovery and institutional coordination at the heart of Peru's response to organised crime. The reforms form part of the Sistema Fiscal Integrado de Recuperación de Activos SFIRA or “Integrated Prosecutorial Asset Recovery System”. At a meeting in May this year with Attorney General Gálvez and senior colleagues, we reflected on the challenges posed by modern organised crime and the need for institutions that can respond to increasingly sophisticated illicit financial flows. Regarding the intent behind the reforms, the Attorney General commented: We cannot continue expecting different results while relying on the same institutional approaches. Organised crime has evolved, and so must we. This reform reflects our determination to move beyond declarations of intent and build the permanent capabilities that prosecutors need to confront increasingly sophisticated criminal organisations. Reflecting on impact of the Basel Institute’s technical assistance through ICAR, he said: We value the support that the Basel Institute on Governance has provided over the years, and we invite the Basel Institute, our government institutions and the wider international community to join us in this effort. Confronting organised crime is a shared challenge that requires a shared commitment. This is how we turn commitment into practical action. Having worked closely with the Peruvian authorities for more than a decade, we believe this direction will be transformative for the country and its people. We also believe other jurisdictions can be inspired by this strategic, systemic response. We share some of the reasoning and details below. Organised crime is a financial phenomenon Public debates about organised crime often focus on violence or trafficking. Yet in anti-corruption and asset recovery circles, we all know that criminal organisations survive only because they are able to generate, move, conceal and reinvest enormous sums of money. The financial dimension of organised crime has become increasingly important as criminal groups expand across borders, diversify their activities and develop closer relationships with professional facilitators and corrupt actors. Illegal mining, environmental crime, drug trafficking, corruption and money laundering are frequently connected through the same financial networks. This is one reason why asset recovery has attracted growing attention from governments and international organisations alike. Less-known benefits of focusing on asset recovery Recovering illicit assets is valuable in itself, not least in times of squeezed public budgets and reduced flows of development aid. Confiscated assets can be reinvested in enhancing the capabilities of law enforcement and prosecution authorities. They can also be used to compensate victims and communities affected by corruption and crime. More importantly, the process of conducting financial investigations and pursuing illicit assets helps authorities understand how criminal networks operate, identify those who profit from them and weaken the structures that allow them to endure. This agenda has particular relevance today because it commands broad support across political and ideological divides. Governments may disagree on many issues. The need to tackle organised crime and illicit finance is rarely one of them. What makes the reforms innovative and impactful Experience has also shown that asset recovery cannot remain a specialised activity reserved for exceptional cases. To keep pace with increasingly sophisticated criminal organisations, countries need to move beyond isolated successes and build institutions that make financial investigation and asset recovery part of everyday prosecutorial practice. In Peru, rather than creating another specialised unit, the Public Prosecutor's Office is building an institutional model that brings together the capabilities needed to tackle the financial dimension of organised crime in a more coordinated, multidisciplinary and sustainable way. The model combines specialised operational support for prosecutors, strategic criminal analysis and stronger institutional coordination. At the same time, it seeks to ensure that the knowledge gained through complex investigations is progressively embedded within the organisation. The objective goes beyond success in individual cases. The aim is to strengthen the Public Prosecutor's Office's long-term capacity to investigate, disrupt and recover the proceeds of organised crime. Importantly, the new arrangements will support both international and domestic asset recovery efforts. - International cases remain essential but often require years of litigation and cooperation across multiple jurisdictions. - Domestically, Peru can also do a lot to target criminal assets located within its own borders and to disrupt illicit economies that continue to fuel insecurity and corruption. As part of this effort, the Public Prosecutor's Office is investing its own resources in the new structure, including resources linked to a tripartite asset return agreement between Peru, Luxembourg and Switzerland that was supported by the Basel Institute through ICAR. From technical assistance to national ownership This institutional model reflects capabilities developed over more than a decade of operational cooperation between our ICAR team and the Public Prosecutor's Office. Through joint work on complex investigations, both our institutions developed practical approaches to financial investigation, international asset recovery and multidisciplinary prosecutorial support. The current reforms seek to embed these proven capabilities within the permanent structures of the Public Prosecutor's Office. This will ensure that the knowledge accumulated through years of operational cooperation becomes part of the institution itself rather than remaining dependent on external technical assistance or individual expertise. For donors and development partners, this matters. The value of technical assistance cannot be measured only by assets recovered or training sessions delivered. Its deeper contribution lies in helping institutions develop the confidence, capabilities and structures needed to perform these functions independently and continuously improve them over time. Why this matters beyond Peru Every country must develop solutions that fit its own legal system, institutions and priorities. Yet some lessons travel well. One is that asset recovery works best when it is integrated into broader efforts to combat organised crime rather than treated as a specialised activity operating at the margins of criminal investigations. Another is that sustainable progress depends on institutions. Cases come and go. Leadership changes. Criminal networks evolve. Strong institutions provide continuity. Peru's reforms will not solve every challenge posed by organised crime. No single reform can. But they represent a thoughtful and ambitious attempt to strengthen the state's ability to understand, investigate and disrupt the financial foundations of criminal activity. For us, they also represent something else: evidence that long-term partnerships can create capabilities that endure beyond any individual project. There are few better outcomes for a technical assistance programme than seeing the ideas, methods and expertise it has supported become part of the institutions it set out to strengthen.
