Unreported World: Guatemala: Riding With The Devil

Series 37, episode 0

In an edition from 2009, Unreported World travels to Guatemala City, where bus drivers were being murdered at a rate of one every other day as part of a campaign of extortion that threatened to bring the city to its knees. Extortion is the main source of income for Guatemala's criminal gangs, earning them millions of dollars a year, and the drivers are killed to instil fear as the gangs maintain their grip on the city. The two main gangs in Guatemala, Mara Salvatrucha and Gang 18, have evolved into highly organised criminal networks, which infiltrate the bus companies in order to protect their interests. Extortion is so lucrative for the gangs they don't stop at the bus companies. Practically any business in Guatemala City is a target