This video, in which a security guard asks his loved ones to give him a call, was the last video of him and his colleagues alive before they were kidnapped and executed in a bitter turf war between rival mining operations.
The 13 men were private security guards working for the mining company R & R in northern Peru.
They had been deployed to protect a remote gold mining site in the mountainous Pataz province, where operations include both legal and illegal players, when they were seized and executed by a rival gang.
The video shows a man in black combat fatigues, armed and using a selfie stick to film a message, seemingly for a family member.
He tells them to call him, but it is unclear if anyone ever did.
Picture shows the scene with the bodies in Pataz, Peru, undated. The 13 workers were kidnapped in a mineshaft on April 26, 2025. Note: Image is a screenshot from video. (Newsflash/NX)
The fugitive known as "Cuchillo" believed to have masterminded the murder has fled the country after the cold-blooded execution of the guards in the violent turf war over mining territory.
The killings happened in Pataz, with the bodies discovered inside the NV 2520 mine shaft in the Santa MarÃa annex near Trujillo on 4th May.
The group had reportedly been re-assigned to a more vulnerable area of the mine after a gunfight on 25th April between guards working for R & R and a group of armed men led by Miguel Antonio Rodriguez Diaz, alias "Cuchillo."
Picture shows Miguel Antonio Rodriguez Diaz, known as 'Knife', undated. The 13 mine workers kidnapped in Pataz, Peru on April 26, 2025 were found dead. Note: Private photo taken from local media. (Newsflash/NX)
An informant told police that five people from Cuchillo's rival group were killed in that earlier clash.
In apparent retaliation, Cuchillo's men captured and executed the 13 guards.
Police said these kinds of confrontations often end in executions or hostages used for negotiations between rival mining gangs.
Cuchillo fled to Colombia the day after the killings on 5th May, according to migration records.
The Peruvian mayor of Pataz later accused the state of being complicit in his escape.
Cuchillo, previously jailed in 2014 for illegal firearm possession, rose to power after the death of his associate Josue Blas Lezama, alias "Gato Cote," the former leader of the notorious mining gang La Nueva Alianza.
Cote was assassinated in Colombia in 2023.
Security officers are seen marching toward their destination before 13 of them are ambushed in Pataz, Peru, undated. The bodies of the victims were found tied up in a sinkhole May 4, 2025. Note: Photo is a screenshot from a video. (Newsflash/NX)
Since taking over La Nueva Alianza, Cuchillo has been involved in a violent turf war against Los Pulpos Nueva Generacion, led by kidnapper Jhonson Cruz Torres.
Cuchillo is also suspected in the killing of nine workers at the La Poderosa mine in November 2023.
In December, he was arrested in Casma, Ancash, with a gun and a hand grenade but was later released.
The public prosecutor’s office has no record of that arrest.
He is currently wanted for extortion, and for crimes involving explosives, but remains at large.
(MJ Leidig/newsX)