WHAT IS A GANGSTER?

In my life I’ve always heard about vandalism, illegal acts and violence. I’ve had
close contact with these events, so I think I can explain about this topic taking into
account my personal experience and some information found.

I come from a country dominated by the middle class and poverty, so the latter, to
deal with their situation, frequently resort to illegal acts, violence and vandalism. In my
childhood I grew up in a dangerous neighborhood, I often heard people fighting and
screaming when I did my homework or when I tried to sleep. The next day of these events
my neighbours commented about a new murder, robbery or kidnapping and some of my
friends were involved in these events. Some of them told me about their coexistence with
people that belong to the criminal gangs and their lifestyles that, little by little, improved
because of these unlawful actions. Sadly, nowadays, some of my friends are dead, in the
jail or in other countries doing the same thing.

What does the term “cupos” mean?

Well, “cupos” is a kind of extortion that is one of the most illegal actions that criminal
gangs perform in Peru. Usually, these criminal gangs are composed by close relatives.
Some people in my neighborhood collect “cupos”, this is an easier way to make lots of
money. At the same time, in some cases, the mayors of the districts are involved. They
are aware about these acts and send some people to treat with the gangsters to make a
deal, thus, these people can perform these illegals acts without any concern.

Furthermore, drug trafficking is a common activity in Peru, everyday thousands of kilos of

cocaine leave from the airport or seaports to Europe, North America, and Asia. There are
several criminal gangs in Peru that are involved in these acts and usually the police report
murders relating to settling of scores between each criminal gang. The confrontation
between these groups is sanguinary and brutal.

Generally, these criminal gangs are joint with politics, militaries, the government and with
the customs authority. They manage huge amounts of money and that’s why they can
bribe these authorities to be able to freely exercise drug trafficking. At the same time, in
order to avoid suspicions, they execute the so-called “money laundering”, this is another
unlawful action that is usually performed by these groups. They invest in hotels, car
rentals, warehouses, restaurants, beauty salons, among other things to hide and support
the money earned in unlawful actions.

Maybe, the idea of a gangster may vary depending on the country or the territory. Perhaps
in a developing country the appearance of the gangsters differs from the developed
country, however, the act or the principal characteristic of a gangster is based on the acts
which he or she performs.
To have some idea how gangsters operate in North America I saw the film “Takers”, in
conclusion, I noted some differences between these bands of gangsters and the ones of
my country. American gangsters are more organized, and their acts are further criminal.
Their criminal acts include extortion, money laundering, smuggling, trafficking and
prostitution.

We always have to deal indirectly with this groups, they are everywhere around the world
and maybe one of our friends or relatives are involved in, in my case, sadly, I have some
relatives and friends that are part of these criminal gangs. I hate those acts, I hate injustice
because that just make us to live in a worse world.