The Special Group Against Extortion (GECE) of the National Civil Police (PNC), is the new commitment of the Ministry of the Interior to combat this type of crime, a tactical unit that was used in Latin American countries that face the same problem, but that It was dissolved for being a deterrent and not eradicating the root problem.
Between 2014 and 2015, a tactical team called the “elite corps,” made up of personnel trained by international police and given heavy-caliber weapons, used motorcycles to move through the narrow streets of northern Sao Paulo, Brazil. , with the intention of taking control of the area where organized crime structures directed extortions.
Federico Reyes, an independent researcher on security issues, emphasizes that during that time in Sao Paulo, extortions for both merchants and families decreased, the problem according to the researcher was that “there was no continuity or investment in police plans” and with the change of president, new strategies were introduced that wiped out what little had been achieved and the problem “returned to the beginning.”
“In some favelas it worked, but not in the most dangerous ones, only in those with a medium incidence. It is important to mention that this tactical group was only a deterrent, it is not that the problem has been eradicated,” he explains.
“Tactical groups to eradicate extortion operated by small and medium-sized structures have been the subject of experiments in Latin American countries, which have the same extortion problem as Guatemala,” adds Reyes.
Control
Contrary to what happened in Brazil; For several years in Bogotá, Colombia, they relied on the same police plan and positive results were achieved, “although that was also lost with recent governments,” says the expert.
“In Bogotá the ravines were recovered because they were a refuge for criminal groups. In Cali, where extortion proliferated, the work areas were recovered, they had their years of tranquility,” he stated.
In March 2015, members of the Unified Action Group for Personal Freedom (Gaula) from Colombia arrived in Guatemala to train 200 national officials, including national police and prosecutors.
The objective was for trained personnel to have the knowledge to dismantle structures at the “highest level” and confiscate the assets obtained, to avoid the financing of other illicit activities.
Reyes emphasizes that police groups similar to those prominent in Brazil, Colombia and Guatemala were implemented in Mexico City 15 years ago, mainly in the neighborhoods. However, the arrival of drug cartels prevented this rapprochement from continuing with citizens who had achieved a culture of denunciation.
The researcher maintains that the problem in countries that are besieged by extortion is that each incoming government proposes different security strategies.
“The secret is that these groups are maintained. In Guatemala they have created task forces that are promising in results, but they are lost with each change of government,” he points out.
Mario Mérida, former vice minister of the Interior, maintains that the GECE is not a strategy, but rather a tactic that only deters the problem. However, the constant searches in prisons and promoting campaigns to advertise telephone numbers or platforms where complaints can be made do appear. as security strategies.
“This can be done through billboards, that is part of a strategy, but anti-extortion forces like the GECE are only a temporary deterrent,” says Mérida.
Units created
Apart from the GECE, this year the Ministry of the Interior created the Multidisciplinary Penitentiary Access Control Team (ECAP), in order to prevent extortion within the country’s prisons. This group’s purpose is to ensure that illicit objects do not enter prisons, mainly during family visits to inmates.
On March 20, 2023, the Ministry of the Interior dissolved the agreements that gave life to the Tecún Umán Task Force, Chortí Task Force and Xinca Task Force, which they implemented together with the Ministry of Defense to combat organized crime in the different regions and which were created between 2013 and 2016. The joint units were dissolved with the argument that the PNC might operate independently without support from the army.
During the government of the Patriotic Party, the Lobos Immediate Reaction Group (GRIL) emerged. This elite commando, whose members wore balaclava hats and ostentatious weapons, moved on motorcycles through the main arteries of cities such as Guatemala and Quetzaltenango.
The objective was to counteract criminal acts, such as assaults, and quickly capture criminals. Extortionists were beginning to be one of the targets. However, although the elite group persists, it lost notoriety within the ranks of the PNC and in the streets.
At the time it was also promised that, through investigation and application of the Domain Forfeiture Law, the growth of extortion would be stopped.
During the Government of Álvaro Colom, the Task Forces were created to combat different threats, including extortion. However, like other units, it was dissolved years later.
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