PERU: Police raid the president’s residence while he is being investigated for possessing expensive watches

A joint operation between the police and the prosecutor’s office was announced on the Latina television station.

The home of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has been raided as part of an ongoing corruption investigation linked to unidentified luxury watches, police said, according to the AFP news agency.

About forty officers participated in the raid early Saturday to find Rolex watches that Boluarte had not declared, AFP news agency reported, citing a police document.

The joint operation between the police and the prosecutor’s office was announced on the Latina television station.

Television footage showed federal agents from an investigative team breaking into the president’s residence with a sledgehammer, the Associated Press reported.

As government officials surrounded the house in the Surquillo district of the capital, Lima, officers blocked oncoming traffic. The President did not appear to be at home at the time.

The raid “is for the purpose of search and seizure,” police said of the operation, which was authorized by a court at the request of the attorney general’s office.

Authorities this month launched an investigation into Boluarte after La Encerrona news outlet reported that the president had worn various Rolex watches at official events.

Responding to questions about how he can afford those expensive watches on a public salary, he said they are the product of challenging work since he was 18 years old, and it is said that he asked the media not to get involved in personal matters.

Attorney General Juan Villena this week criticized Boluarte’s request to delay his appearance in court for two weeks, stressing his obligation to cooperate with the investigation and provide proof of the purchase of his watches.

He also said Boluarte had to hand over three Rolex watches for investigation and warned against throwing them away or destroying them.

The state regulator later announced it would review Boluarte’s asset declarations from the past two years to look for any irregularities.