With the arrival of 30 men from the police gauze to Barranquillalocal authorities launch a series of measures in response to the wave of extortion that shakes local businesses.
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The Military Gaulwhich began operating to combat extortion, reported that 19 arrests have been registered in the metropolitan area: 2 in Barranquilla and 17 in Soledad, from January to February 2022.
The commander of the Metropolitan Police of Barranquilla, Brigadier General Luis Hernandez confirmed that the members of the Gaula are already in the city and that they are specialized in combating criminal structures that are dedicated to extortion.
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“This central level Gaula task force has all the capabilities. In the same way, the articulation with our Military Gaula stands out, as we have been developing activities in the territory and in a differential way in merchants, shopkeepers and transportation”, he indicated.
Local authorities held a security council to analyze the issue of extortion in the city.
He added that the institution has 11 differential research processes, specialized in the matter. He also reported that since the intervention in September of last year, which has been carried out with the Attorney General’s Office, there are already 251 people arrested for extortion who have been registered in Barranquilla.
“We are going to carry out, within this framework of articulation with all the capacities of the institutions, 15 operations simultaneously in the territory and its metropolitan area,” he announced.
Likewise, he pointed out that to date two documents have been filed for the extinction of the domain of ringleaders who were engaged in extortion in Barranquilla.
investigations advance
Mayor Jaime Pumarejo He assured that in total there are 19 ongoing investigative processes, in the hands of specialized prosecutors. Added to this are the two criminal judges specialized in extortion, who have been working for a few weeks, with the support of the United States embassy.
“Reviewing figures for the year 2022 we see that there have been 47 complaints for extortion. We know that it is much more and that there is a fear to denounce, but it is important to highlight that of 47 complaints there are 29 arrests, that is, that there is a high rate of arrests for extortion. Last year there were 235 complaints and 222 arrests were made. We see a high percentage of clearance,” he added.
Payment of rewards
Another of the measures announced by the president was the payment of a reward to those merchants who denounce extortionists.
2 million pesos will be paid for each complaint that leads to the effective capture of a criminal.
The Police are taking care of the complainants and are acting promptly. Each complaint is anonymous, it can be done through a QR code online
“The Police are taking care of the complainants and are acting promptly. Each complaint is anonymous, it can be done through a QR code on the internet, “said Pumarejo.
This code will be another of the strategies that will be used to promote denunciation among the affected sectors.
It consists of a secure medium that will reach all merchants en masse so that they can report anonymously, effectively and without setbacks.
One of the components of this strategy against the crime of extortion is the neutralization of criminal actions from prisons, within which they have already been managed before the Inpec 17 transfers of inmates who were committing crimes from the prisons.
BARRANQUILLA
