For a long time, Jose León earned $18 a day driving a bus in the outskirts of Lima. But over the past three years, new expenses have pushed him further into poverty. That’s payments of $316 to $527 per month to extortionists who send death threats via WhatsApp.
“We used to live peacefully, but now just going to work puts our lives at risk,” said Leon, 63, whose maintenance work can take up almost his entire income. spoke. “If you don’t pay, you’ll be killed.”
A growing extortion network in Peru has targeted industries from transport companies to barbershops, private schools and corner stores, sparking a wave of protests and strikes.
Criminal groups involved in contract killings and drug trafficking are taking advantage of the political power vacuum that has seen Peru go through six presidents over the years to engage in extortion.
Analysts also say the knock-on effects of the demobilization of Colombia’s Farc guerrilla group and the expansion of Venezuelan gangs are increasing organized crime’s business and dwarfing the resources of Peruvian ministries trying to combat it. He blames it.
“Extortion provides organized crime syndicates with what they need most: cash flow,” said Ricardo Valdes, a former deputy interior minister who now runs the Lima think tank Capital Humano y Social Alternativevo. .
“And the big problem that Peru has right now is that the huge sums of money moving around in the illicit economy are dwarfed by the combined annual budgets of the Interior, Defense, National Police, Attorney General’s Office, and Justice Department. It means putting it away.”
Authorities received 17,630 reports of extortion in the first 10 months of 2024, about the same level as the previous year and significantly higher than the 4,500 reported in 2021, but analysts say They warn that many remain unreported for fear of retaliation.
Meanwhile, government data shows 2024 will be the deadliest year on record, with 2,126 murders reported from January to December 26, surpassing the 1,431 murders in all of 2023 and the highest in 2017. This is more than three times the number of recorded cases of 671.
According to a leading industry association, 2,600 corner stores in Lima will be forced to close due to extortion in 2023. Schools were also closed. Residents of the capital are frustrated by the lack of police presence on the streets, despite billboards urging victims to report extortion cases.
Transportation is not the only sector affected, but it has been particularly hard hit. Leon has joined hundreds of fellow bus drivers in protesting in Lima’s historic center against the racketeers and the government, which he says has done little to address the issue. Truck drivers have been on strike in recent months, blocking roads across the country, including during the APEC summit in Lima attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden.
“The government is not doing anything to make us safe,” said Fernando Nuñez, another bus driver, as he marched through central Lima. “We are all facing threats and we are not hearing anything from the government.”
Extortion payments are costing the industry at least $800,000 a month in Lima and the neighboring Callao region, said a partner in a bus company and head of a transportation association who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. estimated that.
He said at least 150 of the 350 trucking companies operating in the region pay extortion fees of about $5,250 a month, with the majority of payments made directly by drivers.
“Tracking drivers is causing confusion and anxiety throughout the industry,” the businessman said. “Because if there are no drivers, what’s the point of a company owning a bus or having a concession to operate a route?”
He said the informal structure of the capital’s transport network, which is largely under a concession system run by private companies, makes it vulnerable to extortion because almost all fares are paid in cash. added.
“Criminals are well aware that bus drivers carry cash,” he said.
Valdez said criminals also find information about companies and individuals to use for extortion by prowling social media or purchasing hacked information on the black market.
According to data compiled by CHSA, Peru’s illegal economy was worth $9.8 billion in 2023, of which illegal gold mining was the largest at $4 billion, while extortion brought in $758 million. The government’s budget for 2024 for the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the police, was $3 billion, while the Ministry of Defence’s budget was $2.3 billion.
In September, after business lobby groups warned that Peru was “losing the battle” against organized crime, authorities declared a 60-day state of emergency in 14 districts around the capital, authorized the deployment of the military and shut down public gatherings. Some rights have been suspended. The measure, which the government claims has reduced crime rates by 22 percent, was extended in late November.
Analysts say one factor in the organized crime boom was the demobilization in 2016 of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla group deeply involved in the production and trafficking of cocaine across Peru’s borders. I am doing it.
A de facto monopoly on the cocaine trade in southern Colombia has been handed over to rival organizations, with repercussions both within Colombia, where extortion is on the rise, and into Ecuador, which is experiencing a surge in violent crimes related to drug trafficking. is.
At the same time, members of Venezuelan criminal organizations, including Torren de Aragua, have also joined the country’s wave of mass immigration, committing large-scale crimes across Latin America.
The rise in crime rates comes as the government tries to weather a series of scandals in the run-up to elections in 2026, with unpopular President Dina Bolarte and an equally despised parliamentary coalition (both around 3% (approval rating).
Turnover in Peru’s ministries has been at its highest level since July 2021, when leftist President Pedro Castillo’s term began. Castillo will be jailed in December 2022 for trying to prorogue Congress and rule by decree, and his vice president, Bolarte, will end his term. Eduardo Pérez Rocha, former head of Peru’s national police, said the chaos was hurting efforts to fight organized crime.
“Since Castillo, there have been 13 interior ministers, but logically the lack of continuity causes problems,” Perez Rocha said. “There is no government policy to combat crime at the national level.”
Interior Minister Juan José Santibanez declined to be interviewed.
According to local media, the turmoil in the executive branch has increased the power of parliament, with dozens of members facing criminal investigations. In July, the group passed a law that loosens the definition of organized crime groups and prohibits investigators from raiding suspected hideouts for evidence without suspects and their lawyers present. This followed earlier reforms that limited prosecutors’ scope to cut plea deals.
“Parliament passes laws that promote corruption, so we trade graft for security,” Leon said while protesting in front of the Parliament Palace. “And this is what President Bolarte is allowing, so obviously we want everyone out.”
