US citizens are more and more likely to be victims of kidnappers in Mexico. Not directly, but through their relatives still living in Mexico.
In November, men snatched an 80-year-old farmer from Felipe Angeles, Zacatecas and held him until his daughter, who lived in the United States, paid the biggest share of a $9,000 ransom. A cattleman was held until his daughter in Las Vegas sent money to help pay a $35,000 ransom.
In another instance, a ransom of several hundred thousand dollars was delivered to kidnappers by a businessman’s son. When he delivered the money, the kidnappers released the father, but then nabbed the son, forcing the family to pay a second ransom.
These chilling events are the latest tactics Mexican criminals are using to extort money from Mexican citizens and raise the terror level several notches higher. It is also driving some Mexican citizens north to the US.
"The relatives of Mexicans in the United States have become a new profit center for Mexico’s crime industry," said Rodolfo García Zamora, a professor at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas. "Hundreds of families are emigrating out of fear of kidnap or extortion, and Mexicans in the United States are doing everything they can to avoid returning. Instead they’re getting their relatives out."
The lawlessness in a heartland state like Zacatecas also shows how drug cartel violence is spreading from border cities like Tijuana and Juarez. As the problem increases, people flee to the US to live with relatives or try to move to a safer place within the country. It adds one more layer of complexity to the emigration situation, especially in light of the economic downturn in the US.
"It’s a toxic combination right now," said Mexican political scientist Denise Dresser. "Mexicans north of the border are facing joblessness and persecution, but in their own country the government can’t provide basic security for many of its citizens."
"The kidnappers are targeting people with relatives in the United States, because they knew these families have money," said a local farmer. "It’s left a psychosis of fear and worry."