Kidnapping thrives in Mexico

Victims of a wave of kidnappings in the 1990s in Cuernavaca, in central Morelos state, say the trauma shredded the fabric of their affluent community.

"I would say about 80 or 90 percent of the 'kidnappable' people here were kidnapped," says student Gerardo Cortina, who was held for 15 days after armed men nabbed him as he was leaving his university one evening. "We all asked ourselves, 'Who's next?' "

Many victims simply packed up with their families and left Mexico. "Anna," who didn't want her real name used, moved with her family from Cuernavaca to Dallas after armed men broke into their home in 1995 and kidnapped her for 30 hours.

She recently returned to Mexico after giving birth to a son. "Now that I am a parent, I can't imagine what my parents went through," she says. Seven years later, "we still call each other every 30 minutes to check everyone is OK."

Though kidnap victims in the US are more likely to be killed, Mexico's highly organized kidnap gangs usually threaten to injure their victims if families don't raise ransoms quickly. Some are known for sending body parts, often a finger or an ear, to show they're serious.

"I'm still filled with fear," says Pedro Fletes, whose captors threatened to cut off his finger when he was kidnapped last year in Mexico City. Mr. Fletes recently started an organization offering counseling for victims and their families, and meeting with the government to help track kidnap gangs. "I'm adamant that someone has to do something," he says.

Fletes isn't the only private citizen who has taken it upon himself to address Mexico's kidnap problem. Other more secretive groups track kidnap cases, meet privately with trusted government officials, and provide various forms of assistance to families when a loved one is taken.

Alberto, a businessman and member of one such group who wouldn't be identified by his full name, says kidnapping is no longer just a problem for the rich. "We're seeing more cases in small villages where a shop owner is kidnapped for somewhere around 5,000 to 10,000 pesos [about $500 to $1,000]," he says.

Mexico's government insists it is taking action. On Saturday, the justice department announced the sentencing of a jeweler-turned-kidnapper known as "the colonel" to 18 years in prison, along with five of his associates. Congress will soon consider legislation to stiffen penalties on express kidnaps. And the newly formed Federal Investigation Agency, a force similar to the FBI, has rescued 133 kidnap victims in less than two years, and nabbed more than 80 members of kidnap gangs. Last week, federal police arrested 13 members of a kidnap gang known as "the Ranchers" in an operation in central Puebla state, rescuing a 63-year-old victim.

But critics say dozens of more dangerous groups are still operating, and it's usually low-level worker bees, not kidnap masterminds, who get caught.

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