Inteligencia y Seguridad Frente Externo En Profundidad Economia y Finanzas Transparencia
  En Parrilla Medio Ambiente Sociedad High Tech Contacto
Inteligencia y Seguridad  
 
06/10/2014 | El Salvador Police Underestimate Extortion: Reluctance to Report

David Gagne

El Salvador's police said that criminals received $8 million in extortion fees over a 20-month period, a number that business unions insist is just a fraction of the real figure, due to the fact that most cases are not being reported to police.

 

In a report obtained by InSight Crime via La Prensa Grafica, the National Civil Police reported that a total of $7.9 million in extortion fees was paid out in El Salvador between January 2013 and August 15, 2014. According to the document, the most common victims were businesses owners, who lost $2.2 million to a reported 1,448 cases of extortion. Police figures showed that other interest groups heavily impacted by extortion included larger companies and the public transportation sector. Another 1,113 extortion victims didn't identify their profession, but lost a total of $1.8 million during the 20-month period.  

In contrast, business unions claimed criminal groups earn at least $53 million from extorting the commercial sector each year, reported La Prensa Grafica. According to a survey conducted by the National Council of Small Businesses of El Salvador (CONAPES), 97 percent of businesses are being extorted, but most haven't reported the crime due to a lack of trust in the police.

InSight Crime Analysis

The huge discrepancy between the number of extortion cases registered by police and those registered by the business sector highlights how reluctant people are to report the crime, thanks to a combination of mistrust in law enforcement officials and the belief that reporting would be futile. This problem is not limited to El Salvador's business sector. According to police figures, there were only 168 cases of extortion in the public transportation sector during the 20-month period, costing the industry a total of $217,000, but public transportation unions told El Diario de Hoy in January that they pay around $3 million a month in extortion fees.   

Extortion is a major source of income for El Salvador's powerful street gangs, including the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18. In the past, gangs have used a variety of tactics to extort individuals and businesses, including exploiting poorly regulated money transfer systems and largely unregulated private security companies to extort the business and transportation industries. 

Insightcrime.org (Estados Unidos)

 


Otras Notas Relacionadas... ( Records 21 to 30 of 274 )
fecha titulo
11/01/2013 Jefe del Comando Sur de EEUU visita El Salvador
10/01/2013 El Salvador: Reward program encourages crime-fighting tip
27/11/2012 ''El Gobierno de El Salvador no se sienta con criminales a hablar de seguridad''
20/11/2012 El Salvador - En ocho meses de tregua entre las maras ha habido 1.600 asesinatos menos
08/11/2012 El Salvador: Disciplina, votos y sistemas electorales
08/11/2012 La carreta antes de los bueyes
30/10/2012 The Zetas After Lazcano: Branded Barbarism
29/10/2012 El Salvador - ''El Gobierno de Funes miente sobre la violencia como mienten los comunistas''
22/10/2012 El Salvador: El suicida al volante
10/09/2012 El Salvador - Asesinato de estudiantes sacude tregua salvadoreņa


Otras Notas del Autor
fecha
Título
28/05/2017|
10/04/2017|
21/11/2016|
15/09/2016|
07/09/2016|
30/07/2016|
04/07/2016|
22/06/2016|
12/06/2016|
05/02/2016|
20/01/2016|
15/01/2016|
08/12/2015|
23/10/2015|
15/10/2015|
29/09/2015|
28/09/2015|
25/08/2015|
25/06/2015|
06/04/2015|
17/03/2015|
03/03/2015|
09/02/2015|
30/01/2015|
22/01/2015|
13/01/2015|
12/01/2015|
27/12/2014|
20/12/2014|
19/10/2014|

ver + notas
 
Center for the Study of the Presidency
Freedom House