Sex workers also pay extortion

November 20, 2017
Authorship: Elsa Coronado and Paolina Albani

Small businessmen, transnational companies, pilots, informal traders and also sex workers. The gangs extort anyone who enters their territory. Although they earn million-dollar sums, the money barely transforms their lifestyle and disappears as easily as it came. The MP estimates that they have collected more than Q38 million in one year, however, they have barely managed to seize and extinguish Q70 thousand.

–I am MS. I started hanging out with these batos at the beginning of February 2013. I started hanging out with them for a marijuana cigar. After a while, they started to give me the vibe that they were from the gang and that if I wanted to have what they had (drugs, women and money), I should go live with them.

Thus begins the story that Sergio Gudiel Vásquez gave as a statement in advance of evidence before the fifth judge of Criminal Instance, Judith Secaida, on November 16, 2015. The boy, then 19 years old, nicknamed “El Minimix”, presented himself to courts voluntarily to reveal the secrets of his clique, the Black Demon, and those of the Santos Locos Salvatruchas (SLS). Two factions of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS), one of the two dominant gangs in the country, which in 2012 was classified by the United States Department of the Treasury as a “transnational criminal organization.” A structure dedicated to murder, extortion and social chaos.

–I went to live there along San Jorge Passage, in a little light blue house. They told me to follow orders and everything would be fine.

And so he did. “El Minimix” lived among the gang and it became his family. Until he decided to rat them out. Before the judge, he described how five murders were planned against alleged rivals, among them school students. He detailed who kept the weapons, identified the drug distributors, and the hitmen from the two cliques, and told how the bosses coordinated and demanded accounts for the extortions. He even mentioned the daily quotas imposed on the sex workers who work in tiny rooms on the old railroad “line,” from 7th to 10th streets in Zone 1 of the city.

He told me about La Línea because he had a “Jaina” (girlfriend) in the area. He established communication with the strikers, who were in charge of collecting the extortion money. They took him into his confidence and revealed that the prostitutes had to pay Q25 a day or Q175 a week to be allowed to work and live in the area. Sometimes he collected the quota from up to 165 women, which meant more than Q28 thousand per week. Approximately of Q100 thousand per month and Q1.3 million per year, according to the calculations that the Public Ministry (MP) included in the judicial file.

The interrogation
–Could you explain how these women are charged? the prosecutor asked.

–They are charged from room to room, Gudiel explained. –That money they charge you, what is it for?

–Because they say that they are going to protect them from anything, even if they are in their territory.

–Do they give the money because they want to or under threat?

–They always tell them that they have to give it; If they don’t, they tell them they have to get out of there.

–What happens if a sex worker doesn’t pay that money?

–They are told to leave or else they will kill them.

Two men are accused of ordering, coordinating and directing the murders of these women: Walter Artemio Cifuentes Ortíz, alias “El Payaso”, a hommie brincado (who orders the murders and coordinates the extortion); and Silvestre David Lemus Ramírez, alias “El Extraño” or “El Señas”, the ranflero (head of the clique), 37 years old, imprisoned in El Boquerón prison, in Cuilapa Santa Rosa. “El Extraño” is accused of ordering the murder of public transport drivers and of organizing the death of eight more people — including five sex workers — who managed to survive because the Anti-Extortion Prosecutor’s Office had intercepted the calls.

The collaboration of Sergio Gudiel, the more than 150 telephone interceptions carried out by the MP and the story of an informant — who can only be said to have experienced the threats up close — served to identify 23 people, including members of the SLS clique. and collaborators, accused of charging prostitutes, and carrying out kidnappings and homicides in the area.

***
Gudiel also gave more details of the structure and how the money was distributed. — What is a Homi brincado? The prosecutor’s interrogation continued.
— He is one who only gives orders when he is jumped (when he rises in the structure).

— Why does he only give orders?

— Because they are already homis brincados, because they have already done what one has been doing.

— Apart from giving orders, do they perform any other act?

— Just posting, checking the issues

— Could you explain what posting is and what is a problem?

— One drawback is when we are going to kill someone and to be posting is to see that there is no one who is going to give us the finger when it comes to doing it.

— Do they receive an economic benefit for the collaboration and how much do they receive? — They do receive a benefit and it is one thousand quetzals.
— In the case of the ranfleros, how much is it?
— It is Q2 thousand.

— In the case of jumps, how much is it? — One thousand quetzales.
— In the case of checkups, how much is it? — It’s one thousand quetzals.

— In the case of strikes, how much is it?

— It’s Q300.

“El Minimix” naturally told the details of his group. But when they questioned him about his motivations and what he expected in exchange for revealing that information before the judge and the Anti-Extortion Prosecutor’s Office, he only said: “I am sorry” and “that justice be done.”

Sergio Gudiel confessed that he murdered two pilots on Route 4 because the truck driver from the Black Demon clique “ordered him to.” One of his victims was the driver Alberto René Gutiérrez Navarro, 30, who after the shooting left the bus adrift until it crashed into the wall of a girls’ school in zone 6. He died on May 27. 2014, heading to the hospital. Four

more people participated in the attack: the driver of the motorcycle on which he escaped, two security guards and the ranflero who coordinated and observed from a distance.

That murder was a warning to all the transporters on that route because they had underestimated the threats of this group by handing over the phone where they received extortion calls to the rival gang. Extortions to bus drivers range from Q20 thousand to Q40 thousand per month per route, according to the complaints known to the MP.

Gudiel also put a face to the aliases that he spontaneously cited, by identifying them in the Police photograph albums.

When Gudiel testified before the judge, he was a member of the MP’s witness protection program. They had isolated him from his routine and kept him in a secret house. But he got tired of the voluntary confinement and in the middle of the judicial process he returned to the streets. He was killed on March 29, 2017, inside a city bus that was going from zone 18 to zone 1. The authorities suspect that his death was ordered by his own gang, the Black Demon.

What happens to the extortion money?

The gangs know that extortion is their main source of income. If the distribution of the money was done, as Gudiel said, every week, up to Q15 thousand were needed to pay for the services of the structure: Q6 thousand for the bosses, Q6,400 among the other subordinates and from Q1,300 to Q2,600 for collaborators who are not members of the clique. That is, about 66% of what they collected each week from sex workers alone.

The money they raised had multiple purposes. The purchase of phones, weapons, ammunition, and the payment of lawyers, among many other items.

On August 21, 2015, the MP intercepted a telephone call in which the way in which the subordinates accounted for the expenses to “El Extraño” and received instructions on the distribution of the money was noted. On that same phone, the alias “Nico” explained that they hired the services of a lawyer (without mentioning the name or details of the case) to whom they paid Q3,500. They also talked about the procedures for a vehicle in the process of forfeiture. They did the math that they owed Q32,500 for parking alone.

Carlos López, a member of the Barrio 18 gang who managed to leave the clique in 2004, after five years of participation, in an interview with reporters explained that there are some similarities in how the two gangs divide the money. “When they receive the money, the strikers take their share and also discount the (price of the) taxi that takes the money to the boss. It is spent on weapons because they are always lost when they are caught; They also pay debts to someone who favours them, there are even people who have to support refugees (evaded from prison), give them food, clothing, sometimes rent a house.”

A part of the money from extortion also serves to satisfy the pleasures of the clique bosses. The informant who contributed to the investigation of the case assured that “El Extraño”, imprisoned in Boquerón, pays for sexual services, even for minors whom he can rape. “He likes 13 and 14 year old girls. He pays Q3 thousand for a virga (virgin) and if he is no longer one, he pays Q1,500. Every Wednesday several women from La Línea leave to serve them. They ask that someone send them a photo of everyone. And nothing about whether they want to or not, you have to go and that’s it.”

The Ministry of the Interior is not aware of any cases of human trafficking or prostitution of minors in prison. “No (there are cases) as such, but some private individuals have been prevented from having visits to minors to avoid sexual abuse,” said Ricardo Guzmán, Deputy Minister of Security.

In 2010, however, the then Minister of the Interior, Carlos Menocal, learned of two complaints of trafficking in girls in sector 11 of the Preventive Department of Zone 18. He was informed that young girls were entering under death threats to their families, who even spent a locked up with the gang members of Barrio 18 for a week. Menocal remembers that they restricted the visits of minors, but that unleashed threats from the gang members. The case was not investigated because the informant did not dare to report.

When one of the members of the clique is arrested, the gang supports them with the support of their partners and children. “Do you believe that the women and children of gang members suffer hardship?” asks the informant, who agreed to a conversation with the reporters. With a smile on her face, she almost mockingly replies: “They pay for milk and diapers without fail and even school for their children.”

Gang members are alarmed every time their visits and access to parcels are restricted. Because that is the exclusive way to access money, food (because they do not eat what the Penitentiary System provides), telephone chips and electronic devices. The informant learned that the extortion money enters El Boquerón, where MS-13 gang members are held, “wrapped in plastic bags inside fast food boxes.”

***

If one added up the fees that all those extorted have paid to the different cliques of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS) and Barrio 18, since 2008, when the phenomenon rebounded and chose urban transport drivers as its favourite victims, one could believe that each faction of these gangs has become millionaires.

But there are no new rich among Guatemalan gang members. At least not among the operational base of each clique. This is confirmed every time the MP builds a case against these groups because it finds that the army of men and women linked to these gangs reside in the same areas, streets and low-income neighbourhoods where they live or trade. majority

of victims who are exploited and killed. A phenomenon that sociologist Virgilio Álvarez calls “extortion of their peers,” because they steal from those of the same socioeconomic status.

Sometimes the quota was collected from up to 165 women, which meant more than Q28 thousand per week, Q100 thousand per month and Q1.3 million per year.

An example is Andy Santana García Vásquez, alias “El Andy”. A 25-year-old gang member who lived his childhood in the Santa Faz neighbourhood, in Zone 6 of the capital. He joined the gang in that place and now he is the terror of that community. The mere mention of his name makes the neighbours, who saw him grow up and become a criminal, tremble.

“I saw him when he would break into houses as a little duck,” recalls a neighbour. “El Andy” belongs to the Crazy Rich clique of Barrio 18. The last thing that was known about him was that he escaped from the Fraijanes I prison in 2016 and that they recaptured him on April 6, 2017, in a neglected, four-level house, in the Santa Marta neighbourhood, in Chinautla, a few kilometres from Santa Faz. His refuge has a controversial history: the house is registered as the headquarters of the Aguirre Hermanos construction company, a cardboard company that according to the MP used the former mayor of that municipality, Arnoldo Medrano, to launder money from the commune.

In the house, “El Andy” had a collection of Adidas tennis shoes and Nike flat caps. Dress shoes, exercise machines, rings, chains, guns and ammunition. Those were all of his visible possessions.

In no MP office or other institution have they analyzed where the money goes. The prosecutors’ hypothesis is that the money “vanished” as soon as he joined the gang. It is diluted in the group’s internal expenses. From lawyers to weapons. For the maintenance of its members in prison and their entourage on the streets. For that reason, there are no gang members accused of money laundering. Nor are there victims who have been able to recover the thousands of quetzals that they handed over against their will.

Legal investments with illegal money

The MP suspects that some MS gang members have migrated from crime to legality, by establishing businesses such as used vehicle sales, motorcycle taxis or small businesses. However, so far there is no company that has been pursued by the Anti-Money Laundering Prosecutor’s Office. The only thing known about Barrio 18 is that it squanders everything that comes into its hands.

Only on two occasions have the assets of MS gang members been taken from them. Both occurred in 2015.

The first was the product of a search carried out in El Boquerón. The Police and prosecutors found Q70,710 in wads of bills of different denominations, hidden in a compartment in the

ceiling of a gang members’ sector and another under a pile in the paisas area (those who do not belong to a gang). ). Almost all the money was in the MS-13 area.

Marco Antonio Villeda, the Asset Forfeiture judge who heard the case, remembers: “I sent to notify the inmates to see who was claiming the money.” The law forces you to wait a period of time for someone to claim ownership of the property. Of course, no one came forward to explain how that money got to prison and why they had it hidden. The judge then decided to transfer everything to State property.

The second case was that of a house valued at US$32,659 that belonged to the ranflero of the Harvar Locos Salvatruchas clique, Allan Brus Andrino Valle, alias “El Finter” and his wife Leslin Marcela Chávez Díaz. The home is located in the Residencial La Cúpula, in Jocotenango, Sacatepéquez, and was paid for with a down payment of US$2,000 and 17 instalments of US$1,597. “El Finter” was captured in that house and accused of crimes of extortion, murder and illicit association. His wife could not prove the legality of the money with which she paid for the house where she lived and lost it. Now it belongs to the State.

The flow of money is vital for the survival of a clique. That is why the head of the Anti-Extortion Prosecutor’s Office, Emma Flores, highlights that they have asked the victims to report their attackers. “Without money, they cannot corrupt authorities or buy weapons. Money is what makes them stronger,” she says.

MP identified that “El Payaso” moved the young hitmen. “Let’s burst a piñata” was the key to killing. With the alerts given by the informant, police investigators prevented, they say, at least 30 deaths.

In the PNC there are 42 investigators dedicated to extortion, and they do so amidst shortages and risks. To monitor the movements of the SLS clique, the police could not use bulletproof vests because the only ones they had were labelled with the PNC symbol. They also do not have many vehicles to carry out surveillance. In the investigation against the SLS, they used their own phones to document the moment when the collaborators went to the rooms to collect the fees.

Santos Damicela Portillo, one of the detained SLS collaborators, told the judge that she received Q25 in each room because she sold lunches. Prosecutors refute her version because in that sector the price of a meal does not exceed Q15. Investigators maintain that Portillo was one of the collectors.

“They (the collaborators) are assistants without a position within the structure because they have not earned enough merit to belong to the group or they have not asked for it; However, according to the law, they are,” says Juan Amílcar Ozorio, head of Litigation of the MP’s Anti-Extortion Prosecutor’s Office. For that reason, this woman was arrested and charged, along with 22 others, for illicit association, extortion and conspiracy to commit murder.

The gang regenerates

In May 2016, the Anti-Extortion Prosecutor’s Office began a new prosecution model. It stopped focusing on small groups, to link hundreds of people in a single structure. With names like Rescue of the South or No More Extortion, in six massive raids, until July 2017, just over half a thousand people were arrested. Accused of belonging to the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs and of having received Q38.7 million. A figure that reflects the proportion of the exactions, which was established based on the victims’ complaints.

Also, several teenagers, because the cliques know that when you are a minor the penalty for murder cannot be more than six years of detention in a correctional facility. An adult can be sentenced to up to 50 years.

María del Carmen Baldizón, the coordinator of the Adolescents in Conflict with the Criminal Law Unit of the Institute of Public Criminal Defense (IDPP), remembers that in 1997 when she started working in that office, young people were detained for cases mild. “Theft of chickens, bread, glasses.” Over time, the crimes have worsened and the number of young people detained is increasing: “Illegal carrying of a weapon, homicide, extortion and rape,” says Baldizón.

One of the gang’s qualities is their ability to regenerate. Like invertebrates, every time the MP and the Police capture some members, they recompose themselves by attracting new followers, in most cases as they did with Sergio Gudiel, “El Minimix”, offering them “drugs, women, money ”.

Baldizón relates that in the interviews that she and her staff have conducted with young detainees, they have confessed that her relationship with the clique began over a cell phone. A fashion object that in the midst of their condition of poverty they could not buy.

López, the gang member from Barrio 18 who managed to rebuild his life and now works in a State agency, says that “today they give the gangsters a salary of Q 1,500 a month.” An irresistible amount for thousands of young people without access to opportunities. Under the sole condition of leaving school and home and moving to live with them. That’s how they asked Sergio.

As sociologist Álvarez explains: “the majority of gang members have a history of poverty and lack of opportunities.” Therefore, “when there is hunger it is easier to get new recruits.”

While the MP tries to win the lawsuit against the SLS clique, bad news in La Línea worries the women who work there: the extortion rate increased to Q200 per week.

This report was prepared during the Second Update Cycle for Journalists of Guatemala www.ciclodeactualizacion.com and originally published on www.plazapublica.com.gt