Corruption Is Impeding Fight Against Kidnapping

MEXICO CITY —  If experts are right in saying only one-third of kidnappings in Mexico are reported to authorities, one reason is the widespread belief that those authorities are part of the problem.

But despite death threats and corruption in high places, Sulpicio Armijo soldiers on.

The 63-year-old rancher paid 150,000 pesos ($16,700) to the men who kidnapped his 23-year-old son in Acapulco in July 1997 and held him for seven days. The man behind the kidnapping was a neighbor, Diogenes Justo Herrera, to whom he had refused a loan worth $2,190.

The neighbor also was a friend of top state officials, who would not arrest him despite the evidence against him.

In the meantime, a state tribunal overturned the 40-year prison sentences a judge had imposed on the other three defendants. Armijo has since filed a lawsuit against the tribunal.

Eventually, he got federal authorities to arrest Herrera, only to have an Acapulco judge throw out the case. Armijo appealed to the same state tribunal and went to the media.

He persevered: The tribunal sentenced the leader to 40 years, and a federal judge added 10 years for engaging in organized crime and illegally possessing weapons. The others received four to eight years on organized-crime charges.

All are appealing their sentences, and Armijo worries that they could go free.

Even if he wins, Armijo has lost the life he once knew. Death threats have forced him to leave Azoyu, his home town of 10,000 people, where he once owned 300 head of cattle, and move to Acapulco.

“If I go back, they will kill me,” he said.

Armijo said he won’t give up, but most are not so brave. Of 20 kidnapping victims he contacted, only four would accompany him to Mexico City to file complaints.

“I, too, am afraid, but I’m not going to be a coward and back down,” he said. “I’m no longer doing this for myself. I’m doing it for society.”