A police cordon marks the perimeter of the site where a forensic team and judicial authorities work in unmarked graves where skulls were found, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico March 16, 2017. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also determined Mexico to beLevel 3, or High, for COVID-19. With Mexicos kidnapping problem only getting worse, more and more families are experiencing the pain of seeing a loved one disappear and facing up to the grim reality that they may never come home. The risk is higher in some locales than others. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Reynaldo Marquez Crespo, 41, and Jancer Sergio Ramos Valdes, 33, both Cuban, face 35 years in prison on charges of alien smuggling and kidnapping. We were held in a house that was practically a torture chamber., He added: I have met a lot of cartel people with my work I havent met anyone as particularly cruel as these men. Nearly 1,200 kidnappings occurred in Mexico last year. The Arzates, led by Ismael El Mayo Zambada,direct drug trafficking on the northern border of Baja California. Ramirez was taken first, according to a text message that Rivera frantically sent to a friend. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. While its unclear whether the high-profile arrest will lead to the Jalisco Cartels retreat, the rival Gulf Cartel also faces challenges with the recent death of their leader, Ariel (El Tigre) Trevino Pena, who was killed by the Mexican army in a shootout in Matamoros in October. Mexico has been a popular travel destination for American tourists throughout the pandemic because restrictions . Mexican criminal organizations require extensive personnel and vast caches of assault rifles and other weapons 70 percent of which come from the US to defend their plazas (strategic points along the drug supply chain) from other gangs and from the Mexican police and military. Five years after the disappearance of Ramirez and Rivera, the investigation into their kidnapping has gone nowhere. July 4, 1956, WestburyWhen Mrs. Weinberger checks on her sleeping 1-month-old son, Peter, all she finds is an empty carriage and a ransom note, promising the baby will be returned "safe and sound" once the $2,000 demand is met. We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and All the violence comes at a time when Mexico is trying to bolster its tourism sector, which accounts for 8.5 percent of the countrys gross domestic product. Criminal groups earn less per victim but can carry out many more kidnappings without attracting the attention of the authorities, according to Juan Francisco Torres Landa, a consultant for the organization Mexico United Against Organized Crime. Local reports claim there have been 366 murders over the past 80 days in the Gulf state of Veracruz more than 4.5 murders each day. Despite the recent spate of drug violence, Tulums foreign residents are staying put. The state ofBaja California cannot clean its face from the violence that thedrug traffickingleft. The updated Travel Advisory includes new information on the Coahuila, Mexico, Nayarit, and Zacatecas states. The attempted kidnappings highlight a concerning trend in Jalisco, where the number of women reported missing has risen steadily in each of the last four years, peaking at 1,161 disappearances in . None of the killings occurred . The states Americans have been strictly told to avoid are Colima, Guerrero, Michoacn, Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas. In addition to the 10 outfits fighting to control drug sales in the plazas or drug marketplaces of Tulum, there are two other gangs in Cancun fighting for dominance of the Riviera Maya, according to Oscar Montes de Oca, the lead prosecutor in the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Tulum are located. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. (Photo: Pixabay), All Rights Reserved The Yucatan Times 2020. Save. The couple filed a police report, which MarketWatch reviewed for this story, and flew back to the U.S. for medical treatment, including an emergency surgery on Jennifers nose, which was broken during a fight with her attackers. The high-profile kidnapping in 1994 of Alfredo Harp Hel, a Mexican entrepreneur whose family paid $30 million for his release, typifies this trend. And this week, the group was hit with a real blow, according to Almonte: Mexicos military arrested Rosalinda Gonzlez Valencia, the wife of Cervantes. They had to find other sources of income, which gave the hitmen in these groups carte blanche to participate in activities like kidnapping and extortion, he said. The U.S Depart of State has updated its Mexico travel advisory and has decided to keep Mexico at Level Three: Reconsider Travel. This is the real story of "Maria" and her husband "Jose". We arent the police, the voice on the other side responded. That is about the same as Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Things have become so dangerous that on Wednesday, Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced the creation of a tourist battalion 1,500 National Guard soldiers wielding automatic weapons to keep visitors safe. Travel.State.Gov. Market data provided by Factset. Yet drug-related violence and widespread media coverage of Mexico's insecurity have severely impacted its tourism industry. In 2019, that amounted to more than $25 billion generated from 45 million tourists, according to Mexicos National Tourism Business Council. Call Davids mom! According to the U.S. Department of State, 66 of these were U.S. citizens, 14 of these cases involved Legal Permanent Residents. The agency cited an "increased risk of crime and kidnapping" in certain areas of Mexico. Get me his father, the voice demanded. 8. Mexico kidnap: The inside story. In Monterrey Mexico a gemologist was kidnapped in 2014 while on a fishing trip. When Frank got out to talk to the driver, two men with weapons descended upon them and took them hostage in their car, according to a police report filed with Mexico City officials. It is a wicked act. And the problems getting worse. There are no tourist kidnappings in Puerto Vallarta that I'm aware of. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. CAN TACOS BE HEALTHY should tacos be considered Junk food or health food? Jose was taken by kidnappers in central Mexico over a year ago. In 2017 the FBI investigated 116 kidnappings in Mexico. Furthermore, if possible travel in at least groups of 2 or more and when using the ATM one individual acts as a buffer/distance mechanism for any who may be attempting to observe or approach. In 2016, there were 771 kidnapping cases in the country involving people connected to the U.S., according to the OSAC, including citizens, legal permanent residents and other cases in which an extortion call was made to the U.S. and police (or former law enforcement officials) have been implicated in many of these incidents. Two human rights organizations, the Association . Express kidnappings made up 66 percent of all kidnapping crimes in 2016, according to the National Institute for Statistics and Geography in Mexico. They dont lose any sleep over who they shoot. Among those killed were Rhonita Maria Miller, 30, and her four children Howard, 12, Krystal 10, and 8-month-old babies Titus and Tiana. The states of Veracruz, Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos, and the State of Mexico had the highest incidence of kidnapping crime. Help me! Tenancingo, Mexico, widely considered the sex trafficking capital of the world, is the single largest source of sex slaves sent to the US, according to the US State Department. Kidnappings for ransom accounted for 81 of the investigations, 10 cases had no ransom demands, and 25 cases were virtual kidnappings. Days before, an armed attack against police officers occurred in the city. 13 Feb. 2020. In the wake of the shocking Cancun shooting, some Americans may be wondering if it's safe to visit the area. The State Department has issued a Level 3 travel advisory for Mexico, which means . The municipality with the most kidnappings is in Benito Jurez, Quintana Roo, The best jeans in Mexico? In its monthly report, the organizationAlto al Secuestrorecorded a decrease in the crime of kidnapping in Mexico. In addition, the number of research folders started increased by 1.1%, from 85 in . Thats all gone now. MRIDA YUCATAN.-. Despite the uptick in violence at tourist destinations and the deployment of troops, Lopez Obrador said the country is forging ahead with ambitious plans to construct an international airport in Tulum by 2023, as well as a 900-mile train route that would link resort spots in Quintana Roo to some of the regions far-flung historic and ecological sites. While the states with a record of zero kidnappings were: Baja California, Campeche, Coahuila, Durango, Nayarit, Quertaro, San Luis Potos, and Yucatn, said Miranda de Wallace. Finally, someone picked up. Single-family home prices slid 1% in January, as compared to December 2022, according to data from Moodys Analytics. The fact that in a long period of time there has been not a single kidnapping in Yucatan is due to some of the strategies deployed at the state level, such as the installation of the Coordination Table for the Construction of Peace and the operation of the Multidisciplinary Group of Justice. Organized crime, like any successful business, adapts to changing market conditions. "Violent crimesuch as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robberyis widespread and common in Mexico," warns the State Department. Meanwhile, a nonprofit organization revealed Tuesday that there have been 69 reported kidnapping cases over the same period. Jennifer and Frank Massabki are telling their story to caution other Americans heading to the country. Unfortunately, in other latitudes of the country, the victims and investigation files for the crime of kidnapping have increased significantly. CANCUN CLUB SHOOTING LEAVES 5 DEAD, 5 WOUNDED, AUTHORITIES SAY. Information about crime in Merida, Mexico. Unfortunately, their story is part of a much larger trend in Mexico, where almost 11 million Americans vacationed last year. Violent drug . In Nuevo Laredo, a retired US marine has spent 27 years, Mexico City is number 5 most populous city in the world, 4,221 vehicles were stolen in Sinaloa in 2019, University students in California prefer to study in Mexico. We can't provide you with security and protection. Desperate to get their sons back, the Ramirez and Rivera families made a payment to the kidnappers. Mexican drug-trafficking organizations have been engaged in brutal fights against . Its slogan is: Were all going to behave.. According to local news reports, a note was left with the body saying she was killed because her husband 'didn't want to pay' the ransom. According to Numbeo's 2021 statistics, Merida ranks #8 as the safest city in the Americas. Alea lacta Est. The couple believed they were able to escape because both spoke fluent Spanish and were physically fit. Other places in the world are far more violent., But for Almonte, who organizes seminars for US law enforcement on Mexican cartels, things are out of control and the Mexican government does not have a handle on it, he said. At the risk of stating the obvious, the more urban the environment the higher the risk of a kidnapping. The Yucatan Times' content is protected by intellectual property rights, its re-publication, distribution, or retransmission is prohibited without the company's prior authorization. I dont want to get into a war of statistics, he said. The principal motives for kidnapping are to subject the victim to some form of involuntary servitude, to expose him to the commission of some further criminal act against his person, or to . ", "Use caution when traveling to Mexico as you would to any other country, but also don't let some of these media headlines of violence and criminality undermine the wonderful things that Mexico has to offer and its rich history," she said. Government of Mazatln analyzes promoting the game of Ulama in the city, Puerto Peasco Rocky Point delivers hot meal to the neediest families, Despite Mazatlan Mayor allowing restaurants to open state health official overrule him, They arrest a Russian couple and a Sinaloan with half a million dollars, Denuncia Paisano, the app to report corruption and extortions of travelers in Mexico by authorities, In the middle of Mazatlan Motorcycle Week, a Tijuana biker is shot to death. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. Authorities believe drug cartels are choosing express kidnappings as a way to get high volume . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The United States tells us to avoid these states. Its a mess.. They were robbed of everything including his American passport. (Reuters). She climbed 20 feet up a tree and hid among the branches for several hours before Frank returned with officials later. Frank ran and found police who returned to get Jennifer, who was hiding in a tree from her attackers. Answer (1 of 7): The very fact of asking the question shows how totally distorted the world media is regarding Mexico. And then there is the Sinaloa Cartel. News reports indicate that the increase in kidnappings in Mexico since 2005 is largely fueled by the drug trade and a surge in the number of criminal gangs. Mexicos kidnapping problem was bad enough when most of the crimes were being committed by a handful of cartels. Gomez said there are now hundreds, and possibly thousands, of gangs of organized kidnappers. Between January and March 2018, 400 kidnappings occurred. There are cases now where the rescue of a victim only costs $500, said Javier Hernandez, an official with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime in Mexico. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, In 2017 the FBI investigated 116 kidnappings in Mexico. Reader support helps us keep our explainers free for all. Country Summary: Violent crime - such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery - is widespread and common in Mexico. End your day with a swim in Cenote Zaci, just five minutes from downtown. See state summaries and advisory levels below for information on your specific travel destination. Well, were still doing business in real estate, said Rottloff. In fact, we were hardly bothered by anyone whose attention we did not want. Who knows what kind of information she will give to authorities, Almonte told The Post. 17 CIA tips on how to think like a spy and stay safe while on vacation, Gun violence, safety concerns are keeping travelers away, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Crespo and Valdez promised their victims safe passage across the Yucatan Straits and then overland across Mexico, according to court documents. Isabel Miranda de Wallace, president of the Alto al Secuestro organization, reported that only 82 criminal events were recorded during the month of August. This is a kidnapping.. A few hours later, Ramirez managed to contact his sister, Deborah. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide . Instead, they were nabbed en route by armed gunmen, making them just two of the thousands of Mexicans rich and poor, young and old kidnapped each year. The sheer number of weapons blew my mind.. To put things in perspective, consider that the murder rate in Mexico's Yucatan State is 2 per 100,000. There is a lot of suffering going on. These criminal organizations have found a special interest in the region due to the drug and people trafficking network. Whats our next move? As a result, criminal groups, beginning in the early 2000s, shifted their efforts toward the middle and lower classes. As I mentioned above, Yucatan is one of the safest places . 775. He is a former Senior Security Advisor to Cisco and served 30+ years within the CIA which awarded him the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal upon his retirement. Hundreds of people in Mexico are kidnapped every year. On Monday in a press briefing,Department spokesperson Ned Price said there were no reports to share on U.S. citizens being injured or killed in the incident. There's more bad news. Cenotes Santa Barbara. That has put me in the crosshairs of governments, gangs, and cartels., MEXICAN MAYOR GUNNED DOWN DURING HIS FIRST DAY IN OFFICE. More than 140,000 descend on the region every week, according to Mexican government statistics, with many wanting to invest in property for the long term, Rottloff told The Post this week. And they tell us lies. However the tragic death of Susana Carrera, whose body was found a week after she was kidnapped allegedly with a note claiming she was killed because her husband didnt want to pay a $207,000 ransom, is just one of the dozens of kidnappings and murders reported in the first two months of the year. He said on Ciro por la maana that the rise in homicides and kidnappings over the past 80 days has shown that cartels and criminals are changing their tactics. The number of victims of kidnapping in Mexico decreased by 10.5% per month in February, when 110 cases were registered compared to 123 in January 2021, the NGO Alto al Secuestro reported on Monday. And, We couldnt get a warrant because our printer was broken. Its a joke.. I feel extremely safe here, said a Dutch expatriate, who just closed on a home in the area. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? Its a trend that experts refer to as the democratization of kidnapping. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); "Alto al Secuestro" announced that Yucatn is among the 8 states of the republic that report zero kidnappings. But the per capita rate is highest in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, near the U.S. border. Im 66, we have more than $2 million, I just want to golf can I retire? They know where they are. The entities with thehighest number of kidnappingscommitted during the month of August for every 100 inhabitants were;Tlaxcala, Quintana Roo, Hidalgo, Morelos, and Baja California. I am glad the wedding couple escaped alive. Heat stroke, dehydration and gastroenteritis, better. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. All rights reserved. So among stories of drug cartels, kidnappings, and more, it might get you wonderingis Merida, Mexico safe? Google Pay. Shows how much people think the problem in their community are property crimes (home broken, car theft, etc. The abduction and massacre of 43 Mexican students in Ayotzinapa, the seizing and murder of two federal agents in February, the kidnapping of three students by a group posing as police in March, and the disappearance of a politicians sister in a town just outside of Mexico City in March are the most recent high-profile examples of a criminal business strategy that has ballooned over the past decade. Like a scene out of a movie, the friends of an American tourist had a miserable night out in the Cancun area. This is why it is a haven for expats, early retirees, families with children, expats, digital nomads and travelers alike. I think the government took a lot of security measures after it happened, he said, adding that authorities also cracked down on drug trafficking in the area. Sevigny told Fox News he left forMexico City after he was releasedand because his passport was stolen, he had to go to the U.S. Embassy for help. The 80s saw Gulf focus on cocaine and marijuana trafficking, followed by fentanyl and other synthetic drugs not to mention racketeering and human trafficking at the border, according to Mexican and US authorities. But Deborah, Ramirezs older sister, believes the reason is more obvious and more troubling. And if there are innocent bystanders, too bad. The US Drug Enforcement Administration has listed a $10 million bounty for El Menchos capture. As one who has visited numerous times and lived there for a few years, I find Mexico, its people, and culture inviting, interesting and a joy to be around. But . Among those kidnapped was American photographer John Sevigny, who was in the city of Cordoba in the state of Veracruz. This crime is also not exclusive to Mexico, as the risk is widespread across Latin America. Cenote Xoch, one of the best cenotes near Merida. Likewise, it indicated that the police of the Poniente Sector were notified but, according to it, they did not pay attention. When they saw that the neighbors came out they got into their truck and left, she said. Visit a quote page and your recently viewed tickers will be displayed here. This month we had 82 events, which means a decrease of 5.7%, but there was a greater decrease in victims, last month we had 124 victims, today we had 107 victims, which represents a decrease of 13.7,explained Wallace. Thu 19 Jun 2003 21.26 EDT. The president of Alto al Secuestro highlighted that there was a 40 percent decrease in this crime between January and August of this year compared to the same period, but in 2019. For many, this municipality is much more interesting and refined thanTijuana, which is why during the holidays a large number of young Americans come attracted by good seafood and lively nightlife. The Australian Government is not able to guarantee your safety. Some restrictions include not hailing taxis from the street but rather using a rideshare service like Uber or regulated taxi stands, and to not travel alone. Beginning around 2006, criminal groups began to use kidnappings and the ransom money they got from desperate families to help fund those activities, according to Vctor Manuel Snchez Valds, a research professor at the Autonomous University of Coahuila, Mexico. Below these regions are Zihuatanejo, Ciudad Jurez, Celaya, Acmbaro, Uruapan, Solidaridad, Centro (Villahermosa), Valle de Santiago, Silao, Tecate, Salvatierra, Irapuato, Zamora. Its [the recent violence] definitely concerning but its all relative. You dont see the violence until you are in the middle of it, Sevigny said. 2018 promises to be one of the most violent years on record in Mexico. . From brutal beheadings to violent kidnappings, the cartel wars of Cancun have unleashed horror on Mexico's Caribbean coast as gangsters wreak havoc feet away from luxury resorts. The monthly report detailed that in January the number of detainees for the crime of kidnapping decreased to 72.4 percent, since only 35 people were apprehended, while in December 127 arrests were reported. Robbery, kidnapping, drug wars and murder are not the only risks in Mexico. U.S. authorities captured Crespo in Texas while Valdes was arrested in Connecticut, where a federal magistrate judge ordered that he be held without bail pending trial. Last week, the State Department issued an alert to U.S. citizens when reports of "multiple vehicle fires, roadblocks, and heavy police activity" surfaced in Tijuana and the surrounding area. Similarly, it was announced that in February the number of detainees for this crime increased, with 120 people, while in January there were 35 alleged perpetrators of kidnapping. Later, the victim said that a kidnapper told the group that he had raped the wives of other victims he had previously kidnapped as a form of payment, according to court records. Verdin taunts the DEA agents torturing him. From about 2007 to 2016, the number of criminal groups in Mexico rocketed from six to 400, according to Mexico United Against Organized Crime. Cancun and other Mexican vacation cities remain top destinations for U.S. travelers despite several safety warnings in 2017 and early 2018. The State Department has suggested caution in the state of Quintana Roo, which includes the popular destinations of Cancun, Tulum, and Cozumel. The foreign-looking men, according to the woman,blocked her way and tried to get her into the truck, but two neighbors recognized her and came to help her. Hoy presentamos nuestro informe mensual . Its slogan is: Were all going to behave. (AP), Lopez Obrador has launched a campaign aimed at persuading people to not break the law. We live in purgatory: My wife has a multimillion-dollar trust fund, but my mother-in-law controls it. Only "1 percent of all kidnappers are captured and carried to justice," said Torres Landa, the Mexico United Against Organized Crime consultant.

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