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The Violence Observatory reported an increase in extortion in Venezuela by criminal groups that mainly act against people who are engaged in commercial, agro-productive, business activities and even work in the health sector. Its victims, the NGO affirmed, suffer intimidation and threats to force them to hand over large amounts of money, mostly currency.
The representations of the non-governmental organization in the states Zulia, Lara and Sucre presented an updated report on the incidence of this scourge on Thursday.
Maracaibo and Lagunilla with the highest records
Over the past year, the observatory has documented 26 cases of extortion in Zulia. The municipalities with the highest records were Maracaibo (12) and Lagunillas (4). Followed by Cabimas (2), Mara (2), San Francisco (2), Colón (1), Jesús María Semprum (1), La Cañada (1), does not report (1).
“Extortion is a crime that has had a significant impact on the social and economic life of Zulians and, particularly, of businessmen who handle US dollars. extortion it has become one of the main sources of income for gangs and organized crime groups after drug trafficking”, explained the lawyer and philosopher Jorge Govea, coordinator of the OVV in Zulia.
He stressed that one of the determining elements in the increase in extortion is related to the dollarization of the economy from the country.
According to their records, the establishments affected by the actions of criminals in 2022 were supermarkets or stores (6), bodegón or liquor store (5), bakery (1), hardware store (1), funeral home (1) bookstore (1), company (1). Likewise, he pointed out that the means used by the criminals were: firearms (6), grenades, explosive devices or Molotov cocktails (11), extortion notes (4), no information (5).
Caracas, Yiyi Conas and Yeico Massacre
Govea explained that among the organized crime groups are Bram, José Leonardo la Burra, Caracas, Pipo y el Melón, Adriancito, Conas, Enano, Gran Yiyi, Satan, Mauricio, Guaro Masanto and Yeico Massacre.
These criminal groups have a structure made up of daters, callers, motorists, throwers, collectors and receivers of money.
The lawyer indicated that they operate through threats made with pamphlets, telephone calls, audio and written messages via WhatsApp, photos and videos, burning of vehicles and lake boats, shooting at residences and companies, with gas or explosive devices and shipments of flower crown.
Some of the crimes related to extortion, pointed out the observatory, are homicides, terrorism, theft and robbery of motorcycles and vehicles, kidnapping, injuries and smuggling of weapons, explosives and ammunition.
In the first quarter: 13 cases
Govea reported that in the first four-month period of 2023 A total of 13 cases of extortion or coercion were registered in Zulia: January (3), February (4), March (5) and April (1).
He mentioned the case of three fishermen murdered in Barranquitas, Rosario de Perijá municipality, on January 5 of this year.
“This is at another level of lethality, that criminal groups engaged in the extortion of fishermen, people who live from fishing in the lake, and they were three attacked and thrown into the water. Two appeared and there is still a body that has not appeared, “said the lawyer.
Fishermen murdered in Lake Maracaibo by extortionists | Photos: archive
Govea also noted the murder of a worker at the Tu Finca Exprés butcher shop, where criminals came and shot everyone who were on the site. The victim, identified as Luis Enrique Castilla, was seriously injured and died shortly after in a hospital.
“Since the owners of this butcher shop did not agree to the extortion, they showed up one day in February and carried out this violent act,” he said. “In 1 month and 18 days, beginning 2023, the extortions in Zulia there were 5 cases with 5 dead and 8 injured by firearm,” he added.
– Burning of vehicles and lake boats.
– Shots at residences and businesses.
– Placement of devices with gases
– Placement of explosives
– Sending flower crowns (RIP)— OVV (@ovv_violencia) June 15, 2023
Lara: police participation in extortion
The sociologist Carlos Meléndez, coordinator of the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence in Lara, affirmed that in that entity police officers have been involved in the crime of extortion and other criminal events not necessarily violent.
He explained that since 2016 an increase in the participation of the police in crime began to be registered, going from 12.9% of the registered cases that year to 46.5% in 2021; then, a decrease was recorded in 2022, with an incidence in 11% of the reports.
Meléndez, in this context that registered a peak due to the actions of the Special Actions Force of the Bolivarian National Police, pointed out the expansion of the disproportionate use of force, which was expressed not only in extrajudicial executions, but in the commission of other crimes that were overshadowed by the lethality and tragic events in Lara.
“The presence of the FAES put a seal that silenced the possibilities of noticing other crimes by other police forces, even by FAES itself,” said the sociologist.
Cicpc, “with more participation”
The observatory in Lara pointed out that the Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigation Corps is located as the police force that has had more participation in events where a crime is presumed. Between 2018 and 2021, he indicated, in the state extrajudicial executions overshadowed police extortion.
He pointed out that these events were characterized by the hegemonic control of powers, impunity, the reproduction of illegal activities in the face of regulations, especially in the pandemic, and an increase in the police force.
He also explained that police extortion has been reinforced by the uninformed expansion of the functions of the police forces, the working conditions of uniformed officers and the lack of internal controls and monitoring of the police career.
Collections, threats, arrests and more
Meléndez said the organization identified some forms of extortion In this state:
—The charge for protection of productive units in the agricultural sectors.
—Threats to medium or small businesses for the alleged evasion of State regulations or for their involvement in alleged crimes.
“Cases such as small businesses that produce between 200 and 300 dollars a month implicate them in alleged crimes and (the owners) they end up paying approximately $10,000 for the detention of their staff because they were arrested and prosecuted, they spent 60 days in jail, with no possibility of getting out and they have to pay the judge and the Cicpc to be able to get rid of being in jail but they continue to be prosecuted with measures”, explained the sociologist.
—Extortion of people with a criminal record or who have measures granted by the Judiciary.
—Charges for the granting of release tickets, transfers, hearings and others.
—Arbitrary arrests of professionals, especially in the health sector, for the alleged illegal exercise of the profession.
—Arbitrary arrests of suspected fraudsters that end in the collection of money to avoid legal proceedings.
added some consequences that extortion has had:
-Loss of family assets.
—Expansion of strategies to evade criminality from the police.
—The closure of businesses or reduction of agricultural and industrial production.
—Prolongation of human rights violations, such as arbitrary arrests, torture and others.
—Forced migration due to police harassment.
—Mistrust in police institutions and, in general, with the institutions of the Venezuelan criminal justice system.
Police without authority
He also stated that the relationship of guarded-guardian, which mediates the police-society bond, is distorted by loss of authority of security agencies because the police have come to be watched by the citizens.
“While this is happening, the idea of expanding the participation of the police in the life of society is consolidating in the official discourse and, with it, the undisciplined action of a body that acts outside the framework of its regulatory framework,” said the expert.
He affirmed that the main motivations of the new police officers in Lara is that assign them in one of the at least 30 alcabalas on suburban roads.
Illegal activities in Sucre
Carmen Julia Amundarain, coordinator in Sucre, explained that the activity bordering the Caribbean Sea and the proximity to Trinidad and Tobago favor illegal acts in the state, such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, robberies at sea, extortion, kidnapping and others.
The extortion in this entity, indicated the professor, is present in crimes such as express kidnapping, vaccination charges, robberies and robberies of people and merchants. This, she stated, has caused the victims to change their work activity and that, to a large extent, production has decreased, which has led to the impoverishment of the population.
Town of Güiria, Sucre state | Photo: Federico PARRA / AFP
“An example is those who were engaged in fishing and pressurized by theft from boats or motors; there was the collection of vaccines by the armed groups, which they made the fishermen leave part of the merchandise as payment. In addition to the fact that, at the terrestrial level, when they moved the merchandise, they also charged them for the vaccines for each of the kilos. It also (happens) with cocoa and coffee,” Amundarain explained.
Without engines and drifting
He stressed that fishermen have suffered more from this scourge because criminals have also they are intercepted at sea and their engines are stolen of their boats, leaving them adrift.
He indicated that the highest incidence of extortion occurs in the Paria peninsula.
He pointed out that the municipalities with the highest incidence of these criminal acts are in the east of Sucre, towards the Valdez municipality. There, the capital is the town of Güiria, the point of the state closest to Trinidad and Tobago.
Other municipalities where there are criminal records are Libertador, Andrés Mata, Benítez, Bermúdez, Sucre (Cumana), Andrés Eloy Blanco, Cajigal, Arismendi and Mariño. He highlighted the few records of the events, both in the local press and in official information.
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