The Untold Price Families in Mexico Have Been Forced to Pay Kidnappers Scott Johnson - TakePart
go to original April 7, 2014

In Mexico, kidnapping for ransom is an industry so lucrative that experts say there's no reason it should end any time soon. For many Mexicans, the police are part of the problem, which means that less than 2% of kidnappings are actually reported. But the government has unveiled a new strategy in its ongoing war on drugs and gangs. (France 24)

... According to Mexican government statistics, kidnappings - both real and virtual - have been rising dramatically, even as awareness about the breadth and scope of the problem has remained relatively muted. Experts believe more than 105,000 people were kidnapped in Mexico in 2012, but official government statistics put the figure at just 1,317. Last year, the official tally increased by about 25 percent, to roughly 1,700, but it's feared the real figure has soared into uncharted territory. And government statistics show the official rate is still increasing, month over month, for January and February of this year as well.

Kidnapping in Mexico has been a problem for several years. Still, says George Grayson, a professor of government at the College of William and Mary, and an expert on the plague of violence sweeping Mexico, “There’s an absolute tsunami of kidnappings right now. The killings in Mexico are terrible, but they largely involve the military, the police, judges, and so forth, all the players. But anybody who's vulnerable is being kidnapped now, and it affects the average citizen.”

Read the rest at TakePart

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!