Boom in Colombian extortion rings undermines security gains
Source: Sun-Herald
Published February 3, 2015
By Joshua Goodman
Protection rackets have become so entrenched that some estimate extortion has ballooned into a $1 billion-a-year industry, according to an investigation by the newspaper El Tiempo. In Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, the chamber of commerce estimates 90 percent of small businesses are victims, paying anywhere from $60 to $100 a week to criminal gangs that terrorize entire business districts.
Just last week, prosecutors announced they were investigating an Italian firm Sicim for allegedly paying millions to rebels of the National Liberation Army to prevent attacks against an oil pipeline it's building in the volatile northeastern border area of Colombia.
As the country's 50-year-old civil conflict winds down, extortion increasingly is becoming an urban phenomenon affecting small businesses. But many Colombians say police often are in on the take, and the authorities who risk their lives fighting the criminals are easily disheartened.
Sergio Rodriguez is the prosecutor in the pirated taxi case. Last year, the organized crime unit he belongs to arrested nearly 1,000 individuals on charges of extortion. But even he acknowledges successful cases like his are a drop in the bucket compared to the size of the problem Colombia faces.
Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2015/02/03/6053064/boom-in-colombian-extortion-rings.html
Another Plan Colombia "success story".
