Due to the cases of extortion that the economic sector of Barranquilla has been denouncing, the merchants announced this Tuesday a march in the city with the intention of rejecting this crime.
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Although they indicated that this Wednesday they will offer further details of the demonstration, it was learned that it will take place next Thursday, February 24.
“This scourge has been taking root in the city for years like a widespread cancer, without the strategies and actions being developed by the authorities having the required effect ”, expressed the organizing committee.
It added that, for more than eight years, the extorted or victims have been micro, small and medium merchants, but pointed out that the problem could spread to a close relative or any other citizen.
“If we do not unite as citizens who love this city and want to live in peace in it, tomorrow it may be a relative of yours who is also being extorted or you yourself” , he maintained.
According to reports, this problem began to skyrocket in mid-2019, to the point that “today fear has spread” in the homes of thousands of people.
The organizing committee of the announced demonstration in the capital of the Atlantic is made up of ten economic guilds omics who have been expressing their concern about the constant extortions.
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They capture someone accused of extortion
In the midst of public concern about extortion, the Metropolitan Police of Barranquilla, through Gaula, reported on Tuesday the capture of an alleged member of the organized common criminal group ‘Los Costeños’.
Thanks to timely information from the community, they intercepted a man who was found to have a shotgun-type firearm with a cartridge for the same, according to the police institution.
The authorities indicated that this man, identified with the alias of ‘La muerte’ would be part of ‘Los Costeños’, dedicated to extortion in the San Roque, Centro and Chiquinquirá neighborhoods.
“The role of this individual within the organization would be to intimidate merchants by carrying out attacks on their businesses by shooting them to pressure them to pay the extortion. In addition, he presents annotations for theft and personal injury”, says the official report.