DRUG TRAFFICKING must be the only activity doing more damage on Jamaica's criminal landscape than extortion.
Pervasive and insidious, extortion has for years been eating at the social and economic fabric of the Jamaican society. Now, as organised crime seems to grow more powerful, the extortioners have become more brazen, sending their ruthless, greedy tentacles into private and public works projects alike.
The extortioners work hand-in-hand with other organised crime groups perpetrating felonies ranging from aggressive assaults, political corruption, to kidnappings and murder.
Every year extortioners rake in millions of dollars from a variety of projects, taking many lives as well, with seeming impunity.
But it is impossible for the police to tackle this scourge alone. If the police are going to have a good go at stamping it out, the victims need to come forward with the information to assist the police.
The police themselves need sophisticated equipment and innovative techniques to battle the extortioners. It may be time also to beef up anti-extortion legislation along the lines of the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organisation statutes which United States law enforcement agencies use with good effect to battle their extortioners and other racketeers.
It is heartening to see the National Works Agency, which manages the Government's construction projects, the Incorporated Masterbuilders' Association of Jamaica, and the Jamaica Constabulary getting together to tackle the problem of extortion and construction site violence.
To allow the extortioners to operate unchecked would be tantamount to institutionalising their continuing criminal enterprise and in the way of termites, undermine the very foundations of the society.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
