And the problems getting worse. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. . "Violent crimesuch as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robberyis widespread and common in Mexico," warns the State Department. Get me his father, the voice demanded. Reynaldo Marquez Crespo, 41, and Jancer Sergio Ramos Valdes, 33, both Cuban, face 35 years in prison on charges of alien smuggling and kidnapping. . Like a scene out of a movie, the friends of an American tourist had a miserable night out in the Cancun area. 50. The Expo Dinosaurios arrives in Mrida on March 3. In 2013, a record 1,700 kidnappings took place, according to data from the Mexican National System of Public Security (SNSP). The fact that in a long period of time there has been not a single kidnapping in Yucatan is due to some of the strategies deployed at the state level, such as the installation of the Coordination Table for the Construction of Peace and the operation of the Multidisciplinary Group of Justice. The U.S Depart of State has updated its Mexico travel advisory and has decided to keep Mexico at Level Three: Reconsider Travel. The U.S. State Department rates areas in terms of safety on a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 being the least safe. A spokesperson for the State Department told USA TODAY in an email thatthe agency regularly reviews all Travel Advisories to ensure U.S. citizens have the most relevant and timely information to make the most informed decisions regarding their safety and security when traveling overseas. The updated Travel Advisory includes new information on the Coahuila, Mexico, Nayarit, and Zacatecas states. Sevigny, who has been back in the United States for more than a month, said he is continuing to recover from the physical and mental injuries he suffered throughout those harrowing 36 hours. The number of victims of kidnapping in Mexico decreased by 10.5% per month in February, when 110 cases were registered compared to 123 in January 2021, the NGO Alto al Secuestro reported on Monday. But now that many of those criminal organizations have begun to splinter, there are more groups vying for a piece of the drug trade, which means that they have more costs to meet. 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In Nuevo Laredo, a retired US marine has spent 27 years, Mexico City is number 5 most populous city in the world, 4,221 vehicles were stolen in Sinaloa in 2019, University students in California prefer to study in Mexico. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? Sevigny told Fox News he left forMexico City after he was releasedand because his passport was stolen, he had to go to the U.S. Embassy for help. Whats our next move? In 2017 the FBI investigated 116 kidnappings in Mexico. If convicted, they could face a maximum of 20 years in prison for kidnapping and a maximum of 15 years for human smuggling, according to media reports. I moved around by bus, alone, and felt extremely safe. One hundred and thirty Yucatecans were attacked by snakes in 2022, Discrimination is the main cause of the decrease in the number of Mayan speakers, Mexico will send 84 athletes to the 2023 Youth Para-Panamerican Games, Cholera, number one enemy during the hot season, Oceanfront Evenings announced in Progreso, A vehicle catches fire in Conkal, Yucatn, Metropolitan Circuit joins the Va y Ven Route; it will be free of charge from March 4 -19, A man was found dead in a soccer field in Mrida, Man brutally beaten for running a stop sign in Kanasn, Rainless weekend and intense heat for the Yucatan. The states of Veracruz, Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos, and the State of Mexico had the highest incidence of kidnapping crime. Earlier this year, Americans were warned to "avoid travel to Mexico" after recent security incidents in tourist destinations like Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. Safety in Yucatan Peninsula. The woman known as La Jefa the chief was Jaliscos main accountant, part of a subgroup known as Los Cuinis, Almonte said. The U.S. State Department issued an updated Travel Advisory Wednesday for U.S. travelers visiting Mexico, including new state-level advice and information on "kidnapping . Her burned-out bullet-ridden SUV was reportedly found . American photographer John Sevigny was kidnapped while visiting the city of Cordoba in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where violence and crime is on the rise. I am glad the wedding couple escaped alive. Crime in Mexico is so well organized that (sometimes) its invisible. Theyre also both fit and athletic, so they could make a run for it. One kidnapper cut off a victims finger when family members couldnt raise funds to release him, court documents say. Various groups have splintered into smaller gangs, which have branched out into different illegal business activities, and the associated violence is spreading across Mexico., Dont miss: What I learned after being robbed at gunpoint in Mexico, Kidnappings in Mexico are largely underreported, The actual number of kidnappings in Mexico is largely underreported, according to the OSAC, due to widespread belief among tourists and locals alike that the police may be involved in the crime or are unable to resolve the situation.. No matter the level of difficulty anyone is facing, that is not enough reason to choose kidnapping as an option . I dont want to get into a war of statistics, he said. Earlier this month, the State Department announced a $5 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of four Sinaloa drug traffickers, including Aureliano Guzman Loera, who is known as El Guano and is the older brother of El Chapo. When Jennifer and Frank Massabki traveled to Mexico in May 2017, they had recently gotten engaged and were looking for potential locations to host their wedding later that year. Mexico City's . MONTERREY, Mexico David Ramirez, a 19-year-old college student from Mexico City, and his best friend Miguel Angel Rivera, 20, were on their way to celebrate Miguels birthday in Zihuatanejo, a coastal village in the Mexican state of Guerrero. If you do decide to travel to an area where kidnapping is common, take precautions. Between January and March 2018, 400 kidnappings occurred. In addition, more than 1 million US citizens call Mexico home, living there as permanent expat residents. Violent drug gangs are waging a bloody war in the tourist haven of Quintana Roo - visited by millions of British and American holidaymakers each year. Likewise, it indicated that the police of the Poniente Sector were notified but, according to it, they did not pay attention. End your day with a swim in Cenote Zaci, just five minutes from downtown. Cabeza de Vaca without limits: former governor persecuted by justice will seek the Presidency! In fact, we were hardly bothered by anyone whose attention we did not want. Mexican criminal organizations require extensive personnel and vast caches of assault rifles and other weapons 70 percent of which come from the US to defend their plazas (strategic points along the drug supply chain) from other gangs and from the Mexican police and military. Am I crazy? After my mother died, my cousin took her designer purse, and my aunt took 8 paintings from her home then things really escalated, What's next for bonds in 2023 after the worst year in history. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If mugged, don't attempt to resist. The Gulf Cartel among the oldest criminal enterprises in Mexico is mired in infighting, according to security experts. Veracruz has been the witness of a bloody rivalry between drug cartels in recent years as well as impunity and government corruption that has led to an explosive cocktail of violence and uncertainty in the state, Al Jazeera reported last year. Tourists continue to flock to Mexico each year, even throughout the COVID pandemic. My work focuses on people and their struggle to survive in an increasingly cruel world. On Feb. 19, rival drug dealers opened fire at Art Beach Tulum, a restaurant on the outskirts of Tulum where an order of sea bass with asparagus risotto and seaweed cream goes for $35. While five Mexican states including Michoacan and Sinaloa are listed as places not recommended for travel, the advisory for Veracruz has no restrictions. 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Yet drug-related violence and widespread media coverage of Mexico's insecurity have severely impacted its tourism industry. A month after his kidnapping, Veracruz prosecutor Jorge Winckler Ortiz reported that his office, as well as the FBI, were investigating something that Sevigny denies. We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and The U.S. Department of State issued a travel advisory for Americans visiting Mexico last year, saying to exercise increased caution due to crime. I will be back to Mexico. According to the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice AC, the rearrangement and the dispute of the cartels by the areas of the state, brought the municipality of Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, to first place in the list of the most violent sites in Mexico. Save. The Mexican government has failed to combat kidnapping, and police are sometimes involved in the abductions. They are putting David in a vehicle, the message said. Jennifer and Frank Massabki are telling their story to caution other Americans heading to the country. The Gulf Cartel also has cells in some border towns in Texas, and alliances with mobsters in Italy. Margarita Mara Ochoa, 72, is the sole survivor of a kidnapping that began at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, December 16th. And if there are innocent bystanders, too bad. According to Numbeo's 2021 statistics, Merida ranks #8 as the safest city in the Americas. Heat stroke, dehydration and gastroenteritis, better. The kidnappers told the Massabkis to start thinking of people to call in the U.S. for a ransom. According to the 2012 estimates, there were 100,000 Mennonites living in Mexico [1] (including 32,167 baptized adult church members), [5] the vast majority of them, or about 90,000 are established in the state of Chihuahua, [2] 6,500 were living in Durango, [3] with the rest living in small colonies in the states of . A police cordon marks the perimeter of the site where a forensic team and judicial authorities work in unmarked graves where skulls were found, on the outskirts of Veracruz, Mexico March 16, 2017. With El Chapo sentenced to life imprisonment at a maximum-security prison in Colorado, the group is now run by Ismael El Mayo Zambada Garcia, 73. Two men who were also there with them were killed and the women were sexually assaulted, he said. USA TODAY. Scores are obtained through a methodology that includes crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, willful injury, and extortion. ", "Use caution when traveling to Mexico as you would to any other country, but also don't let some of these media headlines of violence and criminality undermine the wonderful things that Mexico has to offer and its rich history," she said. Despite the uptick in violence at tourist destinations and the deployment of troops, Lopez Obrador said the country is forging ahead with ambitious plans to construct an international airport in Tulum by 2023, as well as a 900-mile train route that would link resort spots in Quintana Roo to some of the regions far-flung historic and ecological sites. I have to say I have traveled in Guerrero, precisely in Taxco, one of the beautiful Mexican Pueblos Magicos (magic towns) at about 2-hour bus from Mexico City. Similarly, it was announced that in February the number of detainees for this crime increased, with 120 people, while in January there were 35 alleged perpetrators of kidnapping. We arent the police, the voice on the other side responded. I feel safer here than I do in Los Angeles, he said, adding that after the October shootings, the Mexican government dispatched 450 National Guard soldiers to Tulum to keep the peace. These criminal organizations have found a special interest in the region due to the drug and people trafficking network. Hoy presentamos nuestro informe mensual sobre la incidencia del delito de #Secuestro con corte al mes de agosto pasado. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. No way was I going to go back to Cordoba that felt like a trap, he said. Among those kidnapped was American photographer John Sevigny, who was in the city of Cordoba in the state of Veracruz. But the per capita rate is highest in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, near the U.S. border. 1:53. In Mexico, which is heading toward a pivotal presidential election in July, this has meant a surge in kidnappings over the past decade. And, We couldnt get a warrant because our printer was broken. Its a joke.. The couple rented a car from an American company in Mexico City and had been on the road for about an hour when another vehicle rear-ended them. Violent drug . Legal Statement. (Reuters). According to the National Index of Violence, Playas de Rosarito (Baja California) obtained 104 points;Manzanillo (Colima) 87;Tijuana (Baja California) 86;Salamanca (Guanajuato) 82 and Tecomn (Colima) 69 points. Kidnapping: percentage of cases for ransom 2004-2012, by continent Family violence crime victims in Russia 2012-2021 Usage of the search term symphony in bibliographic databases in the U.S. 2010 The states of Veracruz, Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos, and the State of Mexico had the highest incidence of kidnapping crime. Tamaulipas state due to crime and kidnapping. Only "1 percent of all kidnappers are captured and carried to justice," said Torres Landa, the Mexico United Against Organized Crime consultant. Two men promised to smuggle at least three Cuban migrants into the United States, but instead locked them in a Merida house and tortured them, Florida prosecutors say. Attempted kidnapping of a young woman in Merida thwarted, CDC: Cruise Ships May Begin Outside the US Starting in July. Help me! The monthly report detailed that in January the number of detainees for the crime of kidnapping decreased to 72.4 percent, since only 35 people were apprehended, while in December 127 arrests were reported.