Kidnapping Stats

The Mexican Justice Department says that kidnapping is up 9 percent from last year, but the article I read "supports" that with the revelation that, comparing the first five months of 2007 to the same period in 2008, the rate went from 62.5 to 64.6 per month, which of course is a rise of much less than 9 percent. Who knows?

The article also mentions that the department says there is increasing interconnection between drug traffickers and kidnapping cells. This would seem to suggest an increasing number of drug traffickers don't have access to their product thanks to higher levels of interdiction over the past couple of years. To maintain their cash flow, drug gangs turn to other activities, kidnapping among them. This pattern has been documented in Tijuana and will likely be repeated elsewhere. It's a phenomenon that the government needs to keep in mind as it charts security strategy.