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Mexico City kidnappers dress as police
Here’s yet another reason (and perhaps the most graphic) why Mexico City residents have a deep mistrust of police: according to the city’s attorney general’s office, 80 percent of the reported kidnappings in recent months occurred at the hands of criminal bands dressed as law enforcement agents.
According to the Reforma newspaper, in most cases the kidnappers dressed as agents of the AFI (Mexico’s version of the FBI), carried high caliber weapons and said they were looking for guns or drugs. They would force their victims from their cars and take them to a safe house. One unnamed source in the city prosecutors office said the favorite target of the faux police has been the children of wealthy businessmen.
Kidnappings have been falling in Mexico City since the mid 2000’s, when citizen’s groups staged massive protests against the rising crime wave. But the first three months of 2008 has seen a spike of 76 percent compared to the same period in 2007 (25 to 44 reported). Many experts pegged the increase on weak intelligence among law enforcement as well as the public’s reluctance to report kidnappings. It is often assumed here that police are in collusion with kidnappers and experts believe the number of unreported kidnappings could be more than double the official statistic.
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By Y
July 3, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this
Para leerla.