Mexican soldiers stand over a detained man after a deadly gun battle with drug traffickers in Apatzingan, Mexico, on May 7. Agencia Esquema / Ap File (Photo taken from MSNBC)From The Christian Science Monitor:
Felix Batista, who has negotiated the release of scores of victims in Latin America, was nabbed Dec. 10, authorities reported.
Chihuahua City, Mexico - In a troubling sign of the growing sophistication and daring of kidnapping gangs in Mexico, gunmen have abducted an American antikidnapping expert in the northern state of Coahuila.
Felix Batista, a consultant who has negotiated the release of scores of victims throughout Latin America, was reportedly on business, offering ransom advice in the city of Saltillo, when he was grabbed from the sidewalk outside a restaurant.
Kidnapping has long plagued Mexico. On Monday, the country's human rights office released a report showing that between 2001 and 2008, there were 5,140 reported kidnappings. But up to 3 of 4 cases goes unreported, as Mexicans fear that authorities are, at best, unable to solve the problem, and at worst, part of it. Those who can afford it often turn to private security. Yet the fact that a foreign kidnapping expert could fall victim is a sign to many Mexicans that security is as elusive as ever today.
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My Comment: As I had commented yesterday .... it appears that Mexico is more dangerous than Iraq today.