Peru's Boluarte vows to crush 'narcoterrorism' after deadly police ambush

FILE PHOTO: Peru's President Dina Boluarte and Prime Minister Alberto Otarola address the media, in Lima, Peru February 10, 2023. REUTERS/Alessandro Cinque

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Dina Boluarte pledged a crackdown on "narcoterrorism" on Monday, speaking at the funeral of seven police officers gunned down in an area where drug traffickers operate in alliance with remnants of Shining Path militants.

The officers were ambushed on Saturday as they traveled through the remote Andean and jungle region known as VRAEM, according to the Interior Ministry, an area which is believed to produce around three-quarters of the country's cocaine.