Lightning Operation in Tocache
Large-scale police operation that retook control of the town of Tocache from the PCP-SL and drug traffickers on July 15, 1987. The subversive groups withdrew before the police arrived.
On July 15, 1987, paratroopers from specialized police units took the town of Tocache in a major operation called 'Relámpago'. Apparently the PCP-SL and the drug traffickers were aware of the police counterattack because both groups withdrew from the urban area before the arrival of the first troops. This operation took place when it seemed that Alto Huallaga was already under Shining Path domination, after the PCP-SL had managed to control the town of Tocache since the first months of 1987. After the operation, the PCP-SL strategy changed to harass and pressure the urban area from the countryside, accumulating forces only on special occasions to launch brief attacks.