A female reporter for El Universal rushing to work the other day hopped into a cab that looked normal; she even checked the plates. After a minute she noticed that the driver had a military haircut and a black hat on and that the windows were tinted. Then the driver took a left turn and stopped behind a van, and two men with guns climbed inside. They drove to a bank. And then, just as suddenly, they let her go. The robbery took about half an hour. Lucky her.
As La Jornada reported today, in just three states 410 people have been kidnapped so far this year. But lots of kidnappings go unreported. People don't trust the police, who have often been implicated in kidnapping rings. Across the country, the real numbers of kidnappings are likely a lot higher.
Kidnapping is on everybody's mind since the body of Fernando Martí, the 14-year-old son of a retail impresario, was found decomposing in the trunk of a car last week after his family had paid a 5 million peso ransom. Mexican president Felipe Calderón has sent a bill calling for stronger penalties for kidnappers to Congress. It's almost identical to one he sent to the Senate last year, according to Reforma, but PAN is hoping the timing is right now to get it passed.
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