 |
|
|
 Editorials | April 2007 
The US-Mexican Border: The Increasing Risk of Abductions
 Stratfor.com
| | One reason kidnappings go largely unreported on both sides of the border is the fear that doing so could get the victims killed. |
Cross-border abductions of U.S. citizens have been increasing along the U.S.-Mexican border, a trend that is yet another example of the deteriorating security situation along the 2,000-mile frontier. While most of the victims are linked to the drug trade, a number are legitimate businesspeople who are targeted because of their ability to pay ransoms. However, because this trend largely involves Hispanics, kidnappings often go unreported.
Mexico is generally believed to be the leading country for kidnappings in Latin America - and in the world. Though hard numbers are difficult to come by because of the nature of the crime and the security environment in the country, the nongovernmental organization Mexico United Against Delinquency says that nearly 1,000 people have been reported kidnapped throughout Mexico since 2005, 43 of whom died in captivity. This surpasses the number of cases reported in any other country, including Colombia, which had been the world leader in abductions. The organization also reports that the violence attributed to drug traffickers and kidnappers - often the same people - has been crossing the border into towns on the U.S. side, such as Laredo, Texas.
More than 50 cross-border abductions have been reported in Texas' Rio Grande Valley alone over the past two years, and it is believed that many others go unreported. Even on the U.S. side, the victims of such crimes often are abducted in plain sight from a public place. They usually are beaten, shoved in a vehicle and taken across the border, where the beatings continue while the kidnappers contact the victims' friends or relatives to extort ransom money. After the ransom is paid, the victims are usually dumped somewhere and left to find their way home - though some are never heard from again.
Many of these are not classic kidnapping-for-ransom cases, in which a victim is chosen based on the amount of money his or her family can pay. Instead, the victims often are involved with the drug cartels operating in the area - people who owe money to the traffickers, or are traffickers and traffickers' family members who are abducted by rival cartels or other criminal groups. In 10 percent to 15 percent of the cases on the U.S. side of the border, however, the victim is a business owner who is not connected to organized crime, or some other individual with the financial means to pay a ransom. The concern now is that the victim profile could further evolve to include more legitimate businesspeople.
On the Mexican side of the border, the problem is becoming an epidemic. According to the FBI office in San Antonio some 60 U.S. citizens have been kidnapped in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo since 2004, and 21 of the registered cases remain unsolved. For Mexicans, especially those connected to the drug cartels, the danger is much greater. According to cartel insiders, 10-15 cartel-related kidnappings occur each day in Mexican border cities such as Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo. Most of these kidnapping victims never make it home safely, and the cases almost never are reported to or investigated by the police.
One reason kidnappings go largely unreported on both sides of the border is the fear that doing so could get the victims killed. In addition, many of the victims are involved in criminal activities, and therefore are reluctant to involve the authorities. Also, this kidnapping trend thus far has involved mostly Mexicans and Mexican-Americans along the border, and these groups - including the law-abiding community - tend to be highly wary of law enforcement, perhaps because of a history in Mexico of police corruption that can include involvement with kidnapping gangs.
Law enforcement vigilance and security is better on the U.S. side of the border, though that actually could be contributing to the problem because potential victims are relying on local authorities for protection and not practicing vigilance and situational awareness themselves. This can make U.S. citizens vulnerable to kidnapping by gangs operating out of Mexico. Until a prominent U.S. citizen is abducted, however, it is unlikely that this problem will receive much attention from the public.
The more kidnappings these groups conduct, however, the better they will become at their craft - and the bolder they will become. As a result, they eventually will be drawn to more high-value targets. Although abducting a wealthy U.S. citizen from the U.S. side of the border would dramatically increase the heat from U.S. law enforcement, these gangs could consider the potential payoff worth the risk. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us