“For more than a month they were calling me, they watched me from a corner store and told me that they saw my children leaving. They threatened to kill them if I didn’t give them a thousand dollars.” It is part of the story of Nancy O., a Bay merchant who was contacted by an alleged gang that tried to extort money from her.
She is one of the more than 3,000 vendors who work in that commercial area in the center of Guayaquil. She sells plastic products at her store and explains that her phone number was on her facade for customers to contact her.
From there, they presume, the men who called her copied her number and began to monitor her.
After more than a month of constant calls and when he was about to lose his mind, he filed the complaint. She maintains that the Police arrived and collected information, but in those days her cell phone was damaged and she took the opportunity to change the telephone line.
Although she lost contact with some clients, her peace of mind is priceless, says the mother, who is now more careful with those who stand outside her business.
But it is not the only case that has occurred in this sector. Aurelio A., another merchant, explains that a few weeks ago they called him pretending to be the police and told him that one of his nephews had had an accident and that he was in prison. They asked for $500 to release him.
Aurelio asked that they not call him again and blocked the number. He says that his nephew was never involved in any accident.
Extortion, a crime that is increasingly channeled through phone calls and messages; Prosecutor’s Office calls to denounce to combat it
These types of cases have alerted merchants who are grouped in at least 90 associations. The concern arises because in recent days a photo of two men has gone viral who, according to social network users, go around the premises of Chinese merchants asking the owners for up to $ 5,000 for supposedly providing them with “security”.
This amount known as “vaccine” or extortion payment would be demanded every month and those who would be behind these requests would be gangs that operate from the Penitentiary. In other sectors of the country, merchants have also warned of this type of extortion carried out by alleged gangs.
This is how the workers in this area comment, although the Chinese, who also have businesses in the area, prefer not to refer to the subject.
“In the chats of each association audios and videos are broadcast, we are on alert and concerned because we asked the nearby UPC if there were complaints and they told us no. Now we are going to ask for a meeting with the head of the 9 de Octubre district to find out what is going to be done,” says Lucía Peña, from the Ipiales Retail Merchants Association.
The police chief of the district, Colonel William Barreno, says that he has seen the publication of the two alleged extortionists, but points out that the Asian merchants denied that anything was happening and that he even spoke with the Chinese consul in Guayaquil for her to intervene, Well, the policeman comments that not even when they are victims of pencil sharpeners do foreigners want to file a complaint.
“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
Until that happens, the police chief of the center has already contacted intelligence personnel to find out if the men in the photo belong to a gang. He explains that there are already agents behind the issue.
In addition, he maintains that some uniformed officers have visited places to see if the images coincide and discover in which place the photos were taken.
“They told me that it could be in a place in Alborada, but that would no longer be my district,” answers Barreno, who is going to contact the consul again to find out about the case.
Meanwhile, merchants from other points such as Casuarina Avenue (entrance to 8) would also be victims of these gangs.
Amanda O. assures that several owners of stores in that point of the northwest are asked for 50 dollars every week and that if they do not pay them they even send them to set fire to their merchandise with consumers.
“They say they are Los Choneros, but one no longer knows if it is any person who takes advantage of fear to extract money from working people,” says Amanda, who mentions that when a merchant leaves a store and a new one arrives, these gangs are going to ask for the “vaccine”. (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.
