Kidnap Stats

What is the kidnap capital of the world?  Most don’t dispute this distinction belongs to Colombia.  Mexico and Brazil are runners up.  But, don’t overlook Latin America, which definitely deserves honorable mention.

Colombia’s National Police reported that 1,490 people were kidnapped in the first half of 2000, and an average of eight people are snatched every day, with more than 80% blamed on the country’s warring guerilla groups.  Kidnappers, however, target mostly businessmen. 

Colombia’s crime problem is also spilling over into neighboring Ecuador and Venezuela.  El Salvador reported about 50 kidnappings so far this year.  A recent rash of violent crimes has even plagued Costa Rica. Kidnappings in this usually tranquil paradise have shot up 500% in the past six months.

In Mexico City, victims are kidnapped and forced to withdraw money from ATM's (usually emptying out their bank accounts) before they are released.  This ATM a crime is so common and on the rise that the US State Department refers to it as "express" or "quickie" kidnappings.  In Caracas, Venezuela, an average of 40 complaints of ATM crime are made weekly.

So-called "virtual" kidnappings are on the rise all over.  In these cases, the victims are held for a few days while the kidnappers arrange a fast ransom payment with their families.  Industry experts say such payoffs tend to be in the $10,000 to $250,000 range.

Security consultants warn that businesspeople are at some degree of risk in all parts of Latin America.  About 85% of the world’s kidnappings for ransom occur in Latin America, and in the 1990s about 40% of victims in the region were businesspeople, according to Business Risks International, the crisis management outfit of security services firm Pinkerton. 

And Latin America’s kidnapping industry is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Armed with flashy weapons, kidnappers today carry out careful surveillance and execute operations with military-like precision.

In many countries the kidnapping of Westerners has become a business in it's own right resulting in huge demands—as high as $50 million--in recent years.  Industry experts day the most kidnappers usually settle for 10 to 20 percent of their original demand.  

The Economist recently reported on a study by Hiscox Group a major provider of kidnap and ransom insurance. That company estimated that between 1995 and 1997, the number of reported kidnappings for ransom worldwide nearly doubled.  With nine out of ten kidnappings not reported, kidnapping for ransom is most definitely a growth industry.

Foreign workers and the super wealthy are not the only prime targets.  Lowering income requirements,  kidnappers now target small merchants, local professional people and others who are able to pay only modest ransoms.

Sources:  J. Applied Psychology, State Dept., FBI, Global Business Magazine, The Economist, Hiscox Group

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