Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Worst in the World

According to a new study from Grupo Multisistemas de Seguridad Internacional, Mexico is the worst spot in the world for express kidnappings and the more traditional kidnappings for ransom. The study says that Mexico City and the state of Mexico are the worst parts of the nation for express kidnappings, followed by Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Guerrero. The fact that the latter three states, all of them with serious organized crime problem, figure in the top five seems to indicate one of two things (or a combination of both): either you have lots of small-time hoods encouraged by the generalized climate of fear and violence, or you have members of gangs who are, for whatever reason, not raking in the cash via smuggling, and turning toward kidnapping to make ends meet. I've heard of each happening here in Torreón.

Of course, as a private security company operating in Mexico, a kidnapping scourge is not exactly bad news for authors' business, which doesn't make any of this untrue, but it's worth considering.

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