2023-06-08 03:58:58
Residents and traders in the Santa Ifigênia region also confirmed the charge, but prefer to remain anonymous
Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM) agents suspected of extortion in the Cracolândia region would not be the only group that allegedly charges for the protection of those who live or work in the center. The Civil Police is also investigating the actions of alleged drug dealers or persons linked to drug trafficking who also demand fees to avoid the concentration of drug addicts.
The suspicion about these groups was initially disclosed by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo and confirmed by Estadão with Civil Police sources. One of the intentions of the investigation, opened last month, is to define whether these people who allegedly ask for payments are really leaders of drug trafficking in the region or are infiltrated among users.
Residents and traders in the Santa Ifigênia region also confirmed the charge, but prefer to remain anonymous. The manager of one of the buildings located in the area of Rua Gusmões, the point of concentration of users, says that he was approached last month in order to raise R$ 10,000 for the flow to leave the place. According to him, the caller stated that he had “power” to remove traffic from the vicinity. The value would also guarantee protection for residents, especially at night.
The liquidator says that he was suspicious of the offer and did not even take the proposal to the assembly. And the flow remained in place – today it is also concentrated on the corner of Rua dos Gusmões and Avenida Rio Branco.
Residents of this building claim that the feeling of insecurity increased in the vicinity of Santa Ifigênia after the dispersion of the flow of drug addicts after a large police operation around Praça Princesa Isabel last year.
The owner of a computer products store decided to give in and claims to have paid R$ 3 thousand in April. The amount varies according to the size of the establishment. As a guarantee that the service would be carried out, the businessman only gave an advance of R$ 500. The man offering the service showed photos of places where the flow had moved in recent months due to the supposed action of his group. In the days following the payment, the flow really changed corners.
“I need to work and have my door open,” he explained. “It was kind of desperate, but I was afraid it wouldn’t work.”
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Merchants and residents say they cannot confirm whether those responsible for the extortion are connected with the criminal faction that runs drug trafficking in the region, according to the police. On the other hand, it is also possible to relate the constant displacements of the flow to the action of these groups. Currently, users focus on at least four points in the central region.
The existence of these groups adds to the suspicion of extortion by GCM agents. The Public Ministry of São Paulo will investigate the complaint that a group of agents of the corporation has extorted merchants and condominiums in exchange for protection. The amounts charged monthly would be up to R$ 3,000 for residential buildings, and R$ 200 and R$ 500 for tenants.
This Wednesday, the 7th, the City Hall of São Paulo informed that it had asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the preventive arrest of a metropolitan civil guard who was caught on recordings charging protection fees for traders in the Cracolândia region.
In a note, the Secretariat of Public Security stated that “any news of irregularity eventually identified by the State or presented by the population is subject to detailed investigation by the competent bodies”. Also according to the folder, integrated actions between the State and the City Hall in the central region of the capital led to a drop in robberies and thefts after 15 months.
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