Six foreign tourists were arrested in Machu Picchu, province of Cusco after the fecal matter was found inside the famous Inca citadel. Foreign citizens also entered an area inside the Temple of the Sun, damaging one of the walls.
The detainees of different nationalities are Favian Eduardo Vera Vergara (30), from Chile, Marion Lucie Martínez (26), French nationality, Cristiano Da Silva Ribeiro (30), Magdalena Abril Retamal (20), from Brazil, Leandro Sactiva ( 32) and Nahuel Gómez (28), both of Argentine nationality.
In the place, the tourist Nahuel Gómez agreed to be the author of the fall and breakage of a lithic element belonging to an Inca clothing wall of the Temple of the Sun. In addition, he confessed to having made his depositions in the place, knowing that this represents an attack against a site considered a cultural heritage of humanity.
The authorities confirmed the declaration of the Argentine citizen since it was found on one of the walls of the Temple of the Sun foreign tourists caused the fracture of a lithic element, which broke off a falling wall and causing a crack in the floor.
For his part, Darwin Baca León, mayor of the Machu Picchu district, said that after the arrests the group had attacked the national heritage. He added that the incident is already under investigation.
«The six tourists are detained and are investigated by the Public Prosecutor for the alleged crime against cultural heritage and five of these subjects will be expelled from the country and one of them will be detained», said Colonel Wilbert Leyva, chief of the police region of the Cusco.
All of them are accused of a crime against cultural heritage. The law in Peru sanctions all those who damage cultural heritage with prison sentences of at least four years.
Tourists ‘backpackers’
On the other hand, General PNP Víctor Loayza said that ‘backpackers’ tourists once they enter Peru, do not hire the professional services of travel agencies or tourist guides, but instead dedicate themselves to touring the attractions irregularly, trying to avoid payments and taxes, so they have a tendency to commit endless crimes.