Kidnappings in Mexico

Mexico is a wonderful country, and one that is high on our list of vacation destinations. As one who has visited numerous times and lived there for a few years, I find Mexico, it’s people, and culture inviting, interesting and a joy to be around. That said, the risk of kidnapping, especially for the foreign business person or tourist who is perceived to be wealthy exists. The risk is higher in some locales than others. To get the low-down on the situation we turned to a number of government’s travel warnings on Mexico, especially those who called out the kidnapping threat. In addition, we dug a bit into the past to identify those incidents which were published in which an individual or family found itself the victim of a kidnapping.

Kidnappings in Mexico come in three forms. The one we read about the most is “Kidnap for Ransom.” Other forms are “Express Kidnapping” where the victim is kidnapped for the sole purpose of making ATM withdrawals and “Virtual Kidnappings” where no kidnapping has actually occurred but family members are manipulated into thinking one has in an attempt to induce them to pay a ransom.

How many kidnappings of Americans really occur in Mexico each year?

In 2017 the FBI investigated 116 kidnappings in Mexico. According to the U.S. Department of State, 66 of these were U.S. citizens, 14 of these cases involved Legal Permanent Residents.  Kidnappings for ransom accounted for 81 of the investigations, 10 cases had no ransom demands, and 25 cases were virtual kidnappings.  The US Embassy reports that within the consular district served by the consulate within the Embassy (the US has ten consular districts in Mexico) there were 771 kidnappings reported by the Mexico government.

The number of tourists from the US to Mexico in 2017 numbered 35.5 million. In addition, more than 1 million US citizens call Mexico home, living there as permanent expat residents. So the odds of an individual U.S. citizen being kidnapped are quite low, but they are not zero.

As noted, the majority of cases reported to the U.S. Embassy have been kidnapping for ransom. The embassy notes, that in some cases ransom is paid and the victim freed, in other cases the victim is killed despite a ransom being paid.

Governments around the world (United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia) identify kidnapping as a concern for visitors to Mexico.

Steps you can take to mitigate the risk of being a kidnap victim.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the more urban the environment the higher the risk of a kidnapping. In our piece, “How to manager you Mexico vacation and not get shot” I tell the story of a taxi ride in Puerto Vallarta where the driver of the cab makes a call to an unidentified individual and speaks of how the cab with the older white haired male and redheaded female will arrive in about 20 mins. Hearing this, my wife and I exited the cab at the next stop light. Was it to arrange a kidnapping or a timeshare sales pitch, we’ll never know, nor did we wish to find out. Of particular note, is that I followed my own advice in selecting the cab, and went to a “Sitio” cab stand and did not hail a taxi on the street.

Other advice includes using ATMs which are well lit, or inside banks, to reduce the likelihood of being interrupted or suprised. 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.

Where to avoid?

The Government of New Zealand tells us

The United States tells us to avoid these states

Kidnapped

A Florida couple was kidnapped in Mexico City in May of 2017 while scouting wedding locations.  The couple believed they were able to escape because both spoke fluent Spanish and were physically fit.

In Monterrey Mexico a gemologist was kidnapped in 2014 while on a fishing trip.