LIMA, Peru – Fights between drug traffickers led to four being fatally shot in the Loreto region, near the border with Brazil and Colombia, according to police. “All of the individuals were wanted for drug trafficking,” according to a police spokesman, adding two of the deceased had Peruvian-Brazilian citizenship and the other two were Peruvians. Iván Vásquez, the president of Peru’s northern region, has asked the ministries of defense and interior to increase patrols near the triple-border region to combat the escalating presence of drug traffickers. “We know there was a clash between two gangs [in the Ramón Castilla province] with fatalities, and this is causing unease among the local population, who have begun to abandon their communities,” Vásquez said, adding police and marines have been deployed to the unstable area. [Larepública.pe (Peru), 27/04/2010]; EFE (Peru), 27/04/2010; Latin American Herald Tribune (Peru), 27/04/2010]