Lima on edge: bus operators threaten an indefinite strike over extortion gangs' attacks on buses

Public transport in Lima is living through another week of fear. On Thursday, October 29, 2026, news broke of the latest attack: suspected extortionists shot at a bus from the company El Rápido in downtown Lima (Cercado de Lima).

According to the unions, it is the fourth attack on the sector so far this week.

Attacks and threats

In recent weeks, buses from other companies were also attacked, such as Lipetsa (El Triángulo) in San Juan de Miraflores and 10 E in Pachacámac, the latter with passengers on board. In an attack on the company Machu Picchu, an underage passenger was injured and is now out of danger.

The gangs no longer just shoot at buses. They now threaten company managers and their families, even their children.

The gangs charge different amounts depending on the route: the longer it is, the more money they demand from the companies.

Companies at a standstill

Five transport companies have stopped running for security reasons. More than a thousand families depend on El Rápido alone.

Julio Bretoneche, of the Association of Urban Transport Coordinators, said the sector is on the verge of an indefinite strike. There is no date yet.

The government's response

The government sent soldiers to the yards where buses are kept and deployed helicopters. Bretoneche believes the soldiers scare off criminals, but only for a while, and called the helicopters a spectacle.

He is calling for the gangs' leaders to be captured. And he rules out the companies paying for armed private security: about 24,000 buses run in Lima.

A long-standing problem

Extortion of transport has hit Lima for years. An analysis by the newspaper El Comercio, using prosecutors' data, counted 65 transport workers killed in Lima and Callao between August 2024 and October 2025.