It is not a new mechanism, but through it anxiety is sown in the citizenry, in the potential victims, who are increasingly encouraged to denounce. Extortion is a crime that is channeled through phone calls, text messages or WhatsApp.
“We are from the organization of Los Choneros, I believe that you have been able to hear or hear from us, part of our movement.” This is how those who call people to supposedly warn them that their lives are in danger and ask for a financial contribution in exchange for protection or not harming them usually begin.
“Kelvin Ruiz, leader of Los Choneros, writes to you and someone has paid to shoot you”, the message with which criminals seek to extort money in Ecuador
On other occasions, those who call to threaten or intimidate their interlocutors pass themselves off as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or any other organization related to illicit activities.
Many of these calls come from prisons in the country and even from abroad.
According to police figures, in 2021 there were 1,628 cases of digital extortion, a higher statistic than that registered in 2019 and 2020.
What to do if you receive a call or messages for extortion purposes?
Prosecutor Édgar Escobar states that the first thing is to report the incident to the Prosecutor’s Office, in the La Merced building, located on Córdova and Víctor Manuel Rendón, where there is attention from 08:00 to 17:00.
In the Model Barracks (Avenida de las Américas) is the Flagrante Prosecutor’s Office, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“This type of call has become common, because people are often afraid to report, but they obviously have the obligation to approach the Prosecutor’s Office and file a complaint so that the Prosecutor’s Office can intervene and act immediately in coordination with the Police. National”, expresses the official.
These types of calls have become common, because people are often afraid to report, but they obviously have the obligation to approach the Prosecutor’s Office and file a complaint so that the Prosecutor’s Office can intervene and act immediately in coordination with the National Police.
Edgar Escobar, prosecutor
The prosecutor who receives the case by draw according to the law, carries out the investigation in coordination with a police officer.
Previous investigations for this crime can last up to a year. And during that period, the threatened or intimidated people can ask the Prosecutor’s Office to be admitted to the Victims and Witnesses Program.
“The protection of the victim is a right that makes it possible to request protection measures from the State to safeguard their physical integrity or that of members of their family against possible attacks against them, while the process lasts,” explains Escobar.
At the beginning of this year, several social communicators formally denounced through their social networks that they had been victims of attempted extortion. One of them commented that they called him from the Los Choneros gang, a criminal group related to international drug cartels.
Ana (protected name) received this week a call for extortion purportedly from alias Fito and alias Junior, two of the leaders of Los Choneros.
The latter is also identified as the leader of Los Águilas, a cell that broke away from Los Choneros, but which is its ally in the dispute against Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones for control of the prisons and fights for territory in the streets for the distribution of drugs.
The man who contacted her identified himself as Carlos Eduardo H. and told her that he was calling her from a satellite phone through which the communication was heard “in the R8 Guayaquil prison.”
He asked her for $1,000 “as a way of thanking her” for not having attacked her and any of her relatives, as allegedly people known to Ana had asked the gang on three occasions.
In the first instance, he told her that the money would be used to purchase supplies for the operation of a girl with lung problems. Then the man mentioned that the money would also be used to buy bullets that would be used for the woman’s own protection and finally stated that the amount would be destined for a foundation.
During that telephone conversation, nothing materialized, since the woman claimed not to have money and had to cut off the communication, since she was at her workplace. Although nervously and with more doubts than certainties, she decided to report the incident.
What is the penalty for the crime of extortion?
Article 185 of the Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code (COIP) establishes that “the person who, with the purpose of obtaining personal benefit or for a third party, forces another, with violence or intimidation, to carry out or omit an act or legal business to the detriment of their assets or that of a third party”, incurs the crime of extortion punishable by imprisonment from three to five years.
However, there are aggravating circumstances for which the sanction can be extended from five to seven years. These are:
– If the victim is a person under 18 years of age, over 65 years of age, pregnant, someone with a disability or suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
– If the crime occurs with the intervention of someone with whom the victim maintains an employment, business or other similar relationship or with a trusted person or relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity.
The blackmail messages increase. Unase warns citizens
– If the constraint is executed with threat of death, injury, kidnapping or act from which calamity, misfortune or common danger may arise.
– If it is committed totally or partially from a place of deprivation of liberty.
– If it is committed totally or partially from abroad. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
