| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2008 
Suspects Detained in Marti's Kidnap-Murder
 Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
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| | Businessman Alejandro Marti, second left, whose 14-year-old son Fernando Marti was kidnapped and killed in June, shakes hands with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, second right, at a meeting on national security in Mexico City, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. Kidnappings are up 9.1 percent this year in Mexico, averaging 65 per month nationwide, according to the Attorney General's Office, which blames a growing web of drug cartels, cops, former cops and informants who point out potentially lucrative victims. Mexico's Secretary of Finance Agustin Carstens stands at left and Mexico's Defense Secretary Gen. Guillermo Galvan Galvan at right. (AP/Eduardo Verdugo) | | |
Mexico City - Mexico City police said Monday they have detained five suspects in the kidnap and killing of the 14-year-old son of a prominent businessman that prompted a wave of anti-crime protests across the nation.
Officials said kidnappers dressed as police and set up a fake checkpoint on a busy Mexico City street to snare victim Fernando Marti, revealing the complexity and sophistication of Mexico's organized crime gangs.
City prosecutor Miguel Mancera said the man suspected of leading the kidnappers, Sergio Ortiz, posed as a well-heeled society type to move among the wealthy and collect information on potential victims.
"The suspect behaved like a person with money, and moved with ease in high society," Mancera said.
The complex logistics included people accused of stealing vehicles to use in the plan, others to guard and feed the victim and even some used as spies outside the home of the victim's family.
Mancera said Ortiz was a former agent of a now-disbanded city detective force and led the "Flower Gang" responsible for kidnapping Marti in June. Even though the boy's family reportedly paid a ransom, his decomposed body was found in a car trunk on Aug. 1.
Ortiz has been unable to respond to the accusations. He is under detention at a hospital, recovering from gunshot wounds. Mancera said he was apparently shot by criminal associates after the kidnapping.
Investigators think Marti may have been killed because kidnappers weren't satisfied with the ransom money they received. Marti's father founded a well-known chain of sporting goods stores and upscale gymnasiums.
The other suspects, including a women accused of organizing the fake police checkpoint, are under house arrest.
The boy's death sparked outrage across Mexico, leading to calls for tougher punishment for serious crimes and a mass anti-crime march of more than 100,000 people in Mexico City on Aug. 31. |
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