BRIEFS. extortion

Two revenue officials detained

Two officials from the revenue office of the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas (MEF) in Herrera were caught red-handed while extorting an Asian merchant last Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Samuel Horacio Pinzón, 45, and Luis Gustavo Cedeño, 50, were arrested by local police.

According to the police report, Pinzón and Cedeño showed up last Tuesday, at about 4:30 p.m. at the Yau mini-market in the Blas Tello neighborhood and, after purchasing two sodas, threatened the merchant with a $5,000 fine for not recording the sale in his cash register. They then asked him for $300 in exchange for not fining him.

The police report also states that, since the merchant gave the men only $260, the two returned Wednesday afternoon for the rest of the money. That was when police, together with officials from the Dirección Nacional de Información e Investigación Policial, apprehended the two individuals on the orders of legal authorities. The victim of the extortion, Ja Hua Wu, said that he will file a complaint for corruption before court.