Nearly 1,600 kidnapping victims in Mexico rescued in 5 years

Nearly 1,600 kidnapping victims in Mexico rescued in 5 years

2012-01-02 07:01:30 GMT+7 (ICT)

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- More than a thousand kidnapping victims have been rescued by Mexican authorities over the past five years, the country's Public Security Ministry said in a report on Sunday.

According to the federal police, a total of 1,587 kidnapping victims have been rescued, including 704 who were rescued in 2011 alone. Meanwhile, 1,756 people accused of belonging to gangs of kidnappers have been arrested over the five-year period, the report said.

The report also showed that three out of ten people arrested by the federal police, accused of belonging to gangs of kidnappers, are directly related to criminal groups engaged in drug trafficking. Of the 527 people accused of kidnapping and having links to organized crime, more than half belong to Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel.

The vast majority of suspects are men between 25 and 35 years old, although 8.1 percent were women. The report also reveals that organized crime groups prefer to recruit minors for kidnapping activities.

According to government figures, a total of 15,273 drug-related crimes were reported to authorities in Mexico in 2010. More than 30,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderón began his campaign to fight organized crime in December 2006, although some estimates put that number at more than 45,000.

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