Kidnap Surge Holds Mexican Citizens Hostage

MEXICO CITY —  Miguel Soriano sat in darkness, wondering whether he would live or die. Bound and blindfolded, his mind was the only thing allowed to run free, flashing memories of his life and worst-case scenarios of what could happen to him, his wife and his children.

“The days became eternal,” Soriano said. “I kept thinking the worst, and ‘Why me?’ ”

Why indeed? This was no millionaire, just the humble owner of five small graphic arts businesses. But as Mexico endures an epidemic of kidnaps-for-ransom, no one is safe--neither politicians and business moguls nor ordinary housewives or even their maids.

Grabbed in the middle of the day just two blocks from his house in Mexico state, Soriano was held for five days, forced to withdraw $2,630 worth of pesos from automatic teller machines and finally released after he agreed to pay an additional $14,250 or else his family would be killed.

Two years later, the 42-year-old man still lives in fear.

The outcome of his story is unusual: He fought through a corrupt system and his captors are now in prison. But his ordeal is nothing new. Mexico suffers hundreds of kidnappings a year. By some estimates, it could be the worst-hit in the world after No. 1 Colombia, where guerrillas and drug traffickers dominate the abduction business.

Kidnapping first flourished into a major Mexican enterprise in the early 1990s, dominated by professional criminal organizations that researched their wealthy victims extensively before abducting them for days or months and demanding millions of dollars.

Former kidnapping capo Daniel Arizmendi--known as the “ear-lopper” for his gruesome habit of sending victims’ ears to family members--made an estimated $30 million to $40 million in five years before he was arrested in 1998, says Max Morales, a lawyer who helped capture him and has represented several of his victims.

Today, with most of the organized networks broken, experts say most kidnappings are conducted by loosely organized gangs, drug traffickers looking for alternative business ventures, common criminals and even middle-class professionals who see it as a way to make a quick buck overnight. Ransoms now go as low as a couple hundred dollars.

A Dangerous Get-Rich-Quick Scheme

“What makes kidnapping different in Mexico is that it’s a crime of extreme ambition,” Morales said. “Many of those responsible already have a life, a job, a business, but they see this as a way to get rich overnight.”

In December, seven law students--several of whom were doing volunteer work in the state prosecutor’s office--were arrested in Tijuana for allegedly kidnapping a 12-year-old girl in a marketplace. They planned to collect $150,000 to cover university fees.

The nephew of a former interior secretary was targeted by two colleagues who asked for a ride home from the office, then took him hostage. The nephew escaped by crashing his car in front of a police station.

Examples of police involvement are legion. It is estimated that 60% to 80% of all kidnappings involve current or former police officials, who either extort kidnappers or work directly with them.

Soriano’s abduction was arranged by a family friend, a former Mexico City police officer. A bank security camera caught him withdrawing money from Soriano’s account.

The corruption even has infiltrated task forces responsible for capturing kidnappers: Among the most notorious arrests have been those of anti-kidnapping chiefs in Mexico City and Morelos state.

“There is a high level of impunity,” said Miguel Arroyo, spokesman for the advocacy group Mexico United Against Crime. “It’s a huge business.”

So big, in fact, that Mexican diplomats recently warned President Vicente Fox’s government that it threatens foreign investment and tourism.

“There is great concern on the part of foreigners about what is happening,” said Jose Antonio Ortega, a public safety advisor for the Mexican Employers Confederation. “We feel that it is going to cause major problems.”

Ron Lavender, a 75-year-old Iowan who owns a real estate business in Acapulco, was kidnapped last June and held for 117 days. At a news conference after his release in October, he declined to reveal whether the $2.5-million ransom was paid and said he would not file a criminal complaint because “there’s no point.”

New York native Vincent Carrozza, a hotel manager in Acapulco, was kidnapped by 10 heavily armed men and held for eight days in December 1997. He was released unharmed. State police said they were asked by Carrozza’s family not to get involved and did not know if any ransom was paid.

The previous year, Mamoru Konno, a top executive of Sanyo Video Components USA, was kidnapped in Tijuana. His company paid $2 million for his release eight days later.

Fox, whose election in 2000 was seen as ushering in democracy in Mexico, has vowed to eliminate corruption and declared 2002 the “year of public safety.” He has replaced the federal judicial police--the most corrupt of all Mexico’s police forces--with a national police force similar to the FBI.

In December, the justice department and state prosecutors from around the country agreed to establish a national office to coordinate the fight against kidnapping.

System in Dire Need of Revamping

The office also will provide services for victims who now face endless, confusing bureaucracy and investigators who aren’t trained to help them cope with the traumas caused by kidnappings.

The few cases that reach the courts are often handled by corrupt judges who dismiss charges or reduce sentences in exchange for bribes. A recent government report says judges “operate a slow, repetitive system prone to corruption.”

Soriano says his kidnappers’ lawyers offered him 200,000 pesos ($22,200) not to testify. He turned them down.

“I thought it was better to contribute my small grain of sand to justice,” he said.

But the judge in the case, who could have sentenced the defendants to 50 years in prison, handed down three-year terms. Both sides are appealing.

The Mexican justice department did not respond to repeated requests for statistics on kidnappings. Statistics reported by security experts and newspaper columnists range from 400 to more than 550 kidnappings in 2001. Even authorities concede that most victims don’t report the crimes.

Control Risks Group, a private security company with offices in Mexico City, says there were between 1,700 and 2,200 kidnappings in Mexico in 2001, compared to 2,000-2,500 in Colombia and 900-1,400 in Brazil.

Kroll, another security company, estimates the number at 1,200. Morales, who has represented more than 300 kidnap victims, insists that on average, there are 10 a day--3,600 a year.

None of those statistics includes “express kidnappings”--abductions in which the victim is held for several hours or a day, forced to withdraw money from ATMs or to contact family members for quick ransoms.

Morales and Mark Carlson, managing director of Control Risks, estimate that 65 to 70 express kidnappings a day in Mexico City and environs.

Such abductions are recorded by police as robberies, not kidnappings.

In 1999, a dozen former and active-duty police officers were arrested for allegedly participating in a gang that kidnapped a 27-year-old New York University student, Fredy Mc Phail, in Mexico City.

Calls of Commiseration

The officers allegedly robbed the student and forced him to drink so much alcohol that he ended up choking to death on his own vomit.

The boy’s father told news media at the time that he received a dozen calls from relatives of people who had suffered similar attacks.

Six of the officers drew prison sentences ranging from 68 and 98 years but would have to serve only 50, the maximum under Mexican law.

But Soriano is doubtful that things will change soon--for Mexico or for him. More than two years after his kidnapping, he still doesn’t go outside unaccompanied. Neither do his wife or children.

“It is still painful . . . difficult to open up and trust other people,” he said. “After what happened, my family and I, we will never again be the same.”