My cousin’s father got kidnapped in 1980 in El Salavador and the family had to pay $1 MILLION DOLLARS.....back in 1980!!
Sounds like a line from a Warren Zevon song.
Kidnapping south of the border really happens. Not an urban myth.
I used to play on online strategy game and one of our members was an amusing Mexican fellow who lived in Texas. He got a big job promotion that required him to travel a lot in Mexico. He had to drop out of the game not due to lack of time, but because if he was seen in airports with a laptop it draws the attention of kidnappers and he was genuinely worried about being kidnapped.