General PNP Javier Gallardo was arrested after giving an interview on a TV channel

Javier Gallardo Mendoza, former General Commander of the National Police, was arrested this Tuesday in the middle of an investigation for alleged irregular promotions within the institution, a scandal involving former President Pedro Castillo (2021-2022).

With an order from the Judiciary, which issued ten days of preliminary detention against him, a special police team captured the general as he was finishing an interview on Willax TV.

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"I put myself upright to collaborate with justice as I have always done," he told the press, who was waiting for him outside the San Borja canal.

Last Monday, the authorities intervened in the home of the ex-commander general in an operation that left six detainees, including three generals investigated in a corruption case for allegedly making payments to promote a grade.

This is Manuel Rivera López, who served as head of the XIV Macro Police Region in Tacna and Moquegua; Nicasio Zapata Suclupe, former head of the Police Asset Laundering Directorate; and Luis Legua Egocheaga, from the Intelligence Directorate.

The prosecutor's thesis indicates that they would be involved in the alleged payment of up to 40,000 dollars to some nine generals to irregularly rise in rank in 2021, a situation that would have had Castillo's authorization.

In Lima, two homes of the former Defense Minister, Walter Ayala, also investigated for the same case, were raided. "On the subject of promotions, I have not received a single sol (Peruvian currency)," Ayala alleged before journalists.

These pressures were allegedly exerted by the then Secretary General of the Government Palace, Bruno Pacheco, at the request of Castillo and Minister Ayala. This complaint put this case under the spotlight of the press.

For the Public Ministry, it all began with the appointment of Gallardo as commanding general. In return, he would inform Castillo about any action related to his nephews Fray Vásquez Castillo, Gian Marco Castillo and other characters around him, such as former minister Juan Silva.

According to the judicial resolution that ordered the arrest of those investigated, Gallardo would have agreed to the demands of the former president, who gave him the freedom to propose to the officers who aspired to the rank of general.

The Prosecutor's Office is certain that the former president, aware of everything, endorsed this irregular scheme. For his part, Gallardo has assured that he did not receive any bribe. “Categorically, I have to say that I have not received money from anyone. No way,” he said on Willax TV before making himself available.

He added that "they are versions, sayings, of some effective collaborators or witnesses."

Last July, Bruno Pacheco, former secretary general of the presidential office and close associate of Castillo, made some statements that today, five months later, are a key part of the scandal of irregular promotions.

Pacheco spoke of a list of ten officers who paid –according to his statement, published by El Comercio– to be promoted in November of last year with the consent of Castillo, now in pretrial detention.

The former presidential associate maintained that this list was prepared by the nephews of the former president, Fray and Gian Marco, together with the PNP non-commissioned officer and member of the presidential escort, Jorge Tarrillo Gálvez.

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According to the judicial resolution that ordered the arrest of those investigated, Gallardo would have agreed to the demands of the former president, who gave him the freedom to propose to the officers who aspired to the rank of general.