Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Felipe Abondano
00:23 Edgardo López | Brother of extortion victim
00:54 Luis | Bus driver
01:34 Jaime Quito | Peru Congressman
01:58 Edgardo López | Brother of extortion victim

Script:

00:00

Driving a bus has become a dangerous job in Lima. 

Drivers are exposed to robbery, threats and extortion. 

If their employer doesn't pay up - they could be killed.
 
One of the victims was Paul Lopez - his brother says he then got lost in the system.
 
00:30
+++SOT, Edgardo Lopez, brother of Paul Lopez, victim of extortion. 
    "I went to get him at the morgue. There was a code to identify him. A code linked to his death certificate. That's what human beings have become in Peru. Numbers, statistics."
 
00:44
Homicides in Peru have hit a record high, with one person killed every four hours.

The past six months have been the most violent since 20-17. 

And that makes drivers feel unprotected.
 
01:01
((+++SOT, Luis* Driver))
    "I have nothing against the company. It's just the manager, providing us with vehicles and uniforms. This should be the government's responsibility. And we are in a state of emergency. There are no police in this area. I drive here every day and the police are never around."
 
01:22

Authorities declared a state of emergency in March --  sending in the army to restore order.
 
But the government also narrowed the definition of “organized crime”.

The opposition says this gives the gangs greater impunity and hinders the fight against crime.
 
01:50
((+++SOT, Jaime Quito, congressman))
    "We are witnessing how the government on one hand is facilitating all of this -- and on the other, it doesn't have any real plan or strategy to tackle the problem."
 
02:08

Drivers and victims' families say they feel abandoned.
 
02:18
((+++SOT, Edgardo López, brother of Paul López, victim of extortion.))
    "One week the government declares a state of emergency. The next week it implements a new plan. And then...  ‘Oops, a man is killed. That means that plan doesn't work’. Then they try something else. Then they deploy the army. Then they change ministers... In other words, we feel there is a political vacuum. Something is just wrong."
 
02:40

In the meantime people are still being killed - and demands for more effective action are growing.