Posted on 11/23/2009 12:58:28 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Rise in kidnappings prompts more who cross regularly to seek training
Security training companies in Texas and elsewhere, bolstered by an alarming increase in kidnappings and violence in Mexico, are finding a new niche in clientele: Americans and Mexicans living, visiting and working across the border.
“Mexico has been very good for business lately,” said Dan Johnson, who holds a senior position for consulting and training with ASI Group, a Houston-based private intelligence and global risk-management company.
Mexico is often seen as the kidnap capital of the world, with the State Department reporting in an advisory for travelers that dozens of Americans have been kidnapped there in recent years, and most cases remain unsolved.
No one knows for sure how many people are kidnapped. A recent Mexican congressional report puts the figure at 18 a day nationwide, with only two of every 18 reported to authorities.
Though most kidnappings are believed to be resolved for thousands of dollars, heftier ransoms payments, in some cases millions of dollars, have been paid.
“Kidnapping, including the kidnapping of non-Mexicans, continues to occur at alarming rates,” warns a State Department report for travelers. “Kidnapping in Mexico has become a lucrative business.”
Virginia-based Clayton Consultants put it bluntly in a 2009 report: “A toxic brew of thugs and drug gangs have fueled a horrific surge in kidnapping.”
In addition to providing security and training, some companies are involved in delicate ransom negotiations.
Earlier this year, a wealthy woman in her early 40s driving her BMW home from church in Mexico was kidnapped after the driver of a pickup corralled her in a residential neighborhood.
Gunmen smashed the window, punched her face and hustled her away.
She spent the next three weeks stashed in a boarded-up room until an undisclosed but hefty ransom was paid.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
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Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
I remember a few years back when a lot of people considered retiring to Mexico a smart move because of the cost of living.....now it’s costing you your life.
This situation is a good teaching point for all freepers, especially pro business and corporate America can do no harm crowd. When illegal Mexicans cross our open borders, wreck havoc on our middle class schools and hospitals, the rich corporate types said no to the fence, no to the National Guard, no to any security measure for middle class Americans. Vigilantism their political puppets would scream on TV and echoed by corporate owned MSM reporters. Some Americans have gone to jail or were allowed to be sued when they tried to defend themselves and property.
Now rich people are getting hurt by the escalating situation on our open border. They immediately build gates for their homes, have armed guards that will shoot any intruders, and take measures to protect themselves. Anyone in government screaming vigilantism, do not take the law into your own hands and just call 911 and wait for the government? Same situation, similar countermeasures, but different class of victims.
Revolution in my life time and definitely my children’s lifetime.
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Good post, Fee. All too true. They’re even targeting our school kids here in the USA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391600/posts
Illegal aliens indicted on kidnapping charges (children)
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