The criminal attacks that are registered in the Zulia region are mainly related to the collection of “vaccines” from merchants, health centers and small state premises. Extortion has become one of the main sources of income for gangs and organized crime in cities, impacting the social and economic life of its inhabitants.
Text: Liliana Rivas
In Zulia, until August 24, 2022, there were approximately 11 attacks with grenades linked to extortion of businessmen, local owners and ranchers. This mechanism, which keeps the state on alert, It is a response to not paying for “the vaccine” charged by criminal gangs that operate in the region.
Attacks with explosive devices increased in 2022, but a new type of extortion has also increased: the payment of the “vaccine” with cryptocurrencies.
The Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV) confirmed eight attacks with grenades in Zulia in all of 2021. However, only in January 2022, The NGO recorded at least three cases executed in that same state: clinic, nightclub and shopping center.
Miranda, Santa Rita and La Cañada are the municipalities that have been the target of these crimes, which range from attacks on small hardware stores to large shrimp farms. One of the latest attacks occurred against a hardware store in Cabimas on August 23.
To execute these acts, the time does not matter. An attack on the Fiorella Sumermarket store in Maracaibo occurred in the morning, leaving five people injured. The rest day doesn’t matter either. On Sunday, March 20, an explosive device was thrown at the Salto Ángel JR butcher shop and bakery in Cabimas, but it did not detonate.
In the 2022 Semi-Annual Report of the OVV It should be noted that of a total of 2,493 victims of homicides and other acts of interpersonal violence that were present in Venezuela, 24.3% correspond to Zulia, almost a quarter of them.
These figures place the state in first place, as the most violent in the country in the first half of the year.
According to local sources, the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo is the favorite area for extortionists and the amount of the vaccines can be from $200 a month to $5,000 or more; while the range of goods that enter into the illegal transaction can vary from the charge for selling an expensive car to large amounts of vaccines to private clinics.
Jorge Govearepresentative of the OVV pointed out to SuchWhich that there is an increase in the complexity with which these criminal gangs operate. “The grenades are not for civilian use nor are they used in activities of police agencies. They are elements that are part of the personal weaponry of war, that are being used today is to assume a role of contenders or combat. Something like it was in the army, it’s another level. It is logical that people are afraid of reprisals from extortionists when filing a complaint.
Around 11 am on March 25, a man threw a grenade at the main entrance of the Fiorella supermarket, located in Curva de Molina, Antonio Borjas Romero parish, Maracaibo municipality, Zulia state. Its owner Omar Barrios is a partner of Arias. Why the CPBEZ could not pic.twitter.com/bkI0LGt8WC
— Angel Monagas (@AngelMonagas) March 26, 2022
extortion with cryptocurrency
Extortion is a crime classified as a criminal type, which consists of forcing another with violence or intimidation to obtain money or another benefit. In addition, for this, legal assets are attacked, destroyed or eliminated in the process and life, physical integrity and freedom are violated.
Ricardo Acostaformer president of Fedecámaras Zulia indicated that, as it is an organized crime, it is quite difficult to determine the modus operandi of the bands. “Sometimes they hire a guy who gets paid $100 to throw a grenade or shoot someone’s property. Also, depending on the extortion, the merchant may receive foreign calls. There are many ways to intimidate.”.
THAT’S HOW IT WENT
The explosion at the La Estancia butcher shop in #Maracaibo. The criminals threw the grenade inside the commercial premises. Video security camera, courtesy. #Venezuela #zulia #terrorism pic.twitter.com/wtRCQpLrn2
— Lenin Danielieri D (@LDanieri) December 10, 2020
He added that the State security forces have determined that in some cases the masterminds are in neighboring countries such as Colombia.
In relation to this crime, it is not only dollars in cash, but other mechanisms have also been detected. Jorge Govea maintained that with the new technologies the collection of “vaccines” has also become “modernized” and now some gangs operate through bitcoin.
“From the observatory we have been able to register one or two cases in the Simón Bolívar municipality and in other municipalities of Cabimas, where they use this cryptocurrency. The trail is more difficult to follow and if the person has dollars, they require him to buy bitcoin and transfer to the accounts they manage,” Govea commented.
The payment of the so-called “vaccine” has become one more “public service” that the Zulian population must take into account, but, in addition, investment in private security has increased and the operating costs of maintaining a business have doubled.
*Read also: Technology for gangsters, by Javier Ignacio Mayorca
The cost of security in Zulia
Despite the attempts by State security agencies to try to control these attacks in the region and the corresponding investigations that the Government has carried out; The hiring of private security companies, bodyguards, purchase of cameras and others is necessary for those who make a commercial life in Zulia.
Through the OVV and the local press, it has been possible to learn about the names of several Organized Crime Structured Groups (GEDO) that operate in Zulia. The bands are: “Los Meleán”, “El Caracas”, “Yeiko Masacre”, “El Conas”, “El Yiyi”, “El Adriancito”, “Katy y Ney”, “El Chuky”, “J. L La Burra”, “Anthony Propiedad”, “Colina”, among others, these groups are publicly awarded extortion, kidnapping, threats and physical attacks.
The scope of these gangs means that hiring private security services is not entirely a guarantee. In interview for SuchWhich the former president of Fedecámaras Zulia, Ricardo Acosta gave as an example that more than a month ago a man of Arab descent —who already had security and had four people at his disposal with whom spent approximately $800 a month—was a victim of kidnapping. “He had to pay a $400,000 ransom because they asked his family for 10 bitcoins,” he said.
The objectives and motives for the attacks have diversified, it is no longer just businesses or industries that are affected. On January 11, 2022, the María Auxiliadora Teaching Medical Center, in Maracaibo, received a grenade that did not detonate and then, on March 26, the former pran Óscar Guzmán, alias “El Conas” ordered an attack on the Palace of Justice in the Center of Maracaibo where there were no injuries.
Last October, through social networks, Tarek William Saab, imposed by the extinct National Constituent Assembly in 2017 as attorney general, pointed out that They are still investigating Óscar Guzmán and 18 other people who are part of his criminal gang, for being responsible for crimes of association, extortion and terrorism in that entity.
For the director of the OVV, Jorge Govea, the situation represents a time bomb. “No, they are violating rights, victims are also experiencing severe physical and psychological violence, in addition to the socio-emotional damage and as a society that the rest of the population is suffering. We must continue to insist on reviewing the culprits, see how so much weapons reach the criminals, “he said.
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