Three arrested for extorting collective taxi drivers in Comas, Lima North
The PNP dismantled a gang that charged weekly quotas to around 100 informal drivers on Túpac Amaru Avenue. The detained individuals were themselves collective taxi drivers.
Extortion gang targeting collective taxi drivers dismantled in Lima North
Officers of the National Police of Peru (PNP) arrested three suspected extortionists who operated in the Comas district and other sectors of Lima North, according to rpp.pe. The intervention took place at the intersection of Túpac Amaru and Belaúnde Avenues.
The detainees were identified as Luis Uturiango Marcos, Héctor Poma Espíritu and Teófilo Grados Rojas. All three are informal collective taxi drivers who, according to authorities, exploited their knowledge of the industry to threaten colleagues.
The gang targeted informal drivers who travelled along Túpac Amaru Avenue. Approximately 100 drivers featured on a handwritten list, to whom they demanded weekly payment in exchange for "security", collected through a mobile application.
Colonel Holger Obando Cristóbal, head of the PNP's Extortion Division, stated that the detainees were also seized with "substantial sums of money". "They do nothing other than corroborate that they are involved in extortion and probably organised crime," he asserted.
As evidence, the police presented screenshots of conversations recording the weekly collections, in addition to the handwritten list of extorted drivers. The victims had reported the threats several weeks before the intervention.
José Aguilar Reátegui indicated that collective taxi drivers have the option of moving to the formal taxi service.
Source: Google News PE — Lima