Anti-Kidnapping Expert Kidnapped In Mexico
Tweet
Some expert.
A top US anti-kidnapping expert was kidnapped in northeast Mexico last week, reports said Monday, in an audacious move amid a wave of drug-related violence and kidnappings.
Security advisor Felix Batista, 55, was abducted on December 10 in Saltillo in Coahuila state after taking part in two conferences on business security, Reforma daily said, quoting local government officials.
The abduction “was not violent,” said Fausto Destenave Kuri, a state security official, in an interview with Vanguardia website.
The US embassy in Mexico City declined to comment on the reports, while state officials said they would release a statement shortly.
Batista is a Latin America consultant for US-based ASI Global Response, specialized in kidnap and ransom response services, according to his online profile, which was removed from the company’s web site, Reforma said.
Coahuila state last week sparked a national debate after seeking to modify the constitution to reapprove the death penalty, abolished in 2004, for crimes including kidnappings.
Two kidnap-murders of children from high-profile families in the past year have shocked the country.
More than 200,000 people marched across Mexico in late August to protest against rising kidnappings and violence.
Official figures show 954 kidnappings from January 1 to November 30 2008, but rights groups say there are two to three more cases for each one reported.
The country’s top prosecutor said last week that more than 5,300 people have died in suspected drug-related attacks this year, more than double the figure for 2008.
 |
|