Guatemalan bus drivers lynch extortionist

Bus drivers in the Guatemalan capital lynched a presumed extortionist on 25 June when he went to collect his money, the daily Prensa Libre reported the next day. The victim was found with his hands and feet bound and was apparently strangled to death with a plastic cable. Extortion is widespread in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, and bus and taxi drivers and stall owners are typical targets. The daily cited police as saying that the victim visited the drivers on 24 June to say he would return the next day for his "bonus;" he was met then by a crowd of  bus drivers and shopkeepers who began to beat him. Prensa Libre stated that 12 suspected criminals have been lynched around Guatemala so far in 2013, and 300 arrested for suspected extortion according to official figures. Police separately shot dead in the capital on 25 June a gunman who earlier sought but failed to kill a bus driver in a possible robbery, also arresting one or two suspected accomplices, Prensa Libre reported on 26 June. Passengers apparently stopped the attempted assault and threw the gunman off the bus, after which he sought to escape with an associate by motorbike, shooting at police on the streets. On 22 or 23 June, the Defence and Interior ministers presented the Guatemalan President with a security report for the period January to the end of June 2013; authorities stated in the report that they had dismantled 69 "structures" involved in murder, extortion and car theft among other crimes, the Ministry reported on 23 June.