LIMA, March 18, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Peru on Monday declared a month-long state of emergency in the capital Lima to allow for the deployment of soldiers to help police crack down after a wave of killings linked to extortion.

The move came after singer Paul Flores, 39, was shot dead Sunday by hitmen who attacked a bus he was riding with bandmates as they left a concert outside Lima, a city of 10 million people.

The musicians had been threatened by a criminal gang who attempted to extort money from them, their representatives said.

While extortion is a problem across Latin America, it has taken on alarming proportions in Peru -- a phenomenon blamed partly on criminal gangs such as Venezuela's Tren de Aragua which operates in several Latin American countries.

Since January, more than 450 murders have been reported, according to government data.

Under the state of emergency in effect for Lima and its port of Callao, the government can suspend civil liberties such as the right to assemble, and house searches can be carried out.

"We will not allow one more death," President Dina Boluarte declared after Flores's killing.

She added she was "seriously considering" reinstating the death penalty for hitmen and extortionists.

Peru declared a state of emergency in parts of the capital last year and deployed the military in response to a spate of murders of bus drivers blamed on a racketeering pandemic.