Several businesses close to the Court of First Instance in Comayagüela closed due to extortion
The extortion payments are attributed to a new criminal structure that has arrived in the area, despite the state of emergency that the government has maintained since December 2022 as a security measure.
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Several businesses in the La Granja neighborhood , located near the Criminal Court in Comayagüela, have closed their doors in the last two weeks due to an alarming increase in extortion payments by a new criminal structure.
Owners of grocery stores, small markets and copy shops have reported being intimidated by extortionists who demand weekly payments of approximately 7,000 lempiras.
“It’s been two weeks now, things are getting worse, the situation is getting horrible. They (the extortionists) come every day,” a merchant told a local media outlet.
The extortion payments are attributed to a new criminal structure that has arrived in the area, despite the state of emergency that the government has maintained since December 2022 as a security measure.
The presence of the new criminal structure comes just a few months before the Christmas celebrations, a season in which, according to complaints from various sectors, the extortion groups also demand the payment of a “bonus”, similar to what happened during the Morazan week, when they asked for an additional payment to go on vacation .
More than 60 percent of extortion complaints are concentrated in the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, according to 2023 data from the Ministry of Security.
