In Mexico, 'invisible crime' of extortion exacts heavy toll

A shop owner facing threats shutters the clothing store that had been in his family for generations.

- BY PATRICK J. MCDONNELL AND CECILIA SÁNCHEZ VIDAL

A leader of a citrus growers association is kidnapped and killed after refusing mob demands for a cut of profits.

Enraged peasant farmers fed up with paying graft turn on cartel thugs in a bloody showdown.

In Mexico, these real-life incidents all arise from a signature offense: extortion.

Gang shakedowns are rampant in Mexico, victimizing untold numbers — street vendors and taxi drivers, restaurateurs and farmers, factory owners and mine operators. All are coerced into paying tithes to criminal bands, sometimes the same cartels that run drugs.

"It's a very sensitive crime because of its social impact," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week. "It doesn’t only affect one person. It affects everyone."

Sheinbaum launched a high-profile crackdown against extortion, but her efforts face steep odds. Extortion, experts say, is a multi-billion-dollar racket, perhaps even more lucrative than drug trafficking. It sometimes is called “the invisible crime,” since most victims fail to report threats, fearing retaliation.

Those targeted often confront a ghastly choice: accept ultimatums to hand over cash, property or other assets — or face death, a threat routinely aimed at family members as well.

"Sure, I can say, 'I won't pay: They can go ahead and kill me,’ said Antonio, a floriculturist outside Mexico City who hands over almost $600 in derecho de piso [protection] at each flower harvest, the amount doubling in holiday seasons, including this month's Virgin of Guadalupe feast.

“But I can not allow them to kill my kids. Or take my wife.”Like other victims who spoke to The Times, Antonio, 56, a father of four, asked that only his first name be used for security reasons.

“We live in terror,” he said. “We have to work for these delinquents. And no one in the government helps us.”