Given the short notice granted for responding to the above questions, an exhaustive search could not be performed. Although no specific references to Shining Path actions in the Tingo María region in January 1987 could be found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC, one source states that in early 1987 Shining Path began controlling the drug business in the main coca-growing region -including Tingo María- demanding money from drug traffickers and mediating between the coca growers and the traffickers. [ "La Invasión Colombiana", in Caretas (Peruvian weekly newsmagazine), 10 April 1989, pp. 42-43.]

Regarding extortion by Shining Path, a recent report [ "El Duento del Cupo", in Caretas, 19 June 1989, pp. 36-38.] indicates that, in addition to the Shining Path and Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru rebel groups, some common criminals have resorted to extortion posing as members of either rebel group. The attached report describes two such cases, one of a shopkeeper and one of a factory owner. It also mentions two cases of businessmen, one in Lima and another in Pucallpa, who resisted extortion and were killed. The true identity or group membership of the murderers and blackmailers remains unknown.

Although the terms Movement and "Clasista" (which translates roughly into "class-oriented" or "class-related") are reportedly commonly used in the name of Shining Path front organizations, [ "El sueño del sindicato", in Caretas, 25 September 1989, p. 84.] it is not possible to determine whether the movement in question is linked to the Shining Path without more information.

Please find attached a copy of the above-quoted articles: "El Cuento del Cupo" and "La Invasión Colombiana". Due to time limitations, a translation of the texts could not be made.