The National Intelligence Service ( or ) was an intelligence agency

Intelligence agency

An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...

 of the Government of Peru

Government of Peru

Peru is a presidential representative democratic republic with a multi-party system. Under the current constitution, the President is the head of state and government; he or she is elected for five years and cannot seek immediate re-election, he or she must stand down for at least one full...

. The agency was disbanded by Alberto Fujimori

Alberto Fujimori

Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...

 after its de facto chief, Vladimiro Montesinos

Vladimiro Montesinos

Vladimiro Ilyich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional , under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition...

, was caught paying bribes

Bribery

Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...

 to major political

Politics of Peru

Politics of the Republic of Peru takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Peru is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...

, military

Military of Peru

The Peruvian Armed Forces are the military services of Peru, comprising independent Army, Navy and Air Force components. Their primary mission is to safeguard the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity against any threat...

 and media

Media in Peru

-Newspapers:The oldest newspaper in Peru is El Peruano, which was founded by Simón Bolívar on October 22, 1825. El Peruano acts as the official newspaper of record, and all laws passed in Peru must be published in the daily. Despite El Peruanos official status, it does not have the largest...

 figures. Fujimori later pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the scandal.

A number of scandals surrounded SIN. SIN was widely believed to be behind a number of cases of kidnapping

Kidnapping

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

, torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

, and murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

.

It is believed that SIN was related to Grupo Colina

Grupo Colina

Grupo Colina was a paramilitary anti-communist death squad created in Peru that was active from 1990 until 1994, during the administration of Alberto Fujimori...

.