Mexico: Rich or Poor, you may be a target of kidnapping

Washingtonpost.com reported in Mexico, with its history of drug-war violence and corrupt police, kidnapping is an old story. In the past, the crime tended to target the rich. Now it has become more egalitarian. Victims these days are often shopkeepers, taxi drivers, service employees, parking attendants and taco vendors who often work in cash or in Mexico’s “informal” economy. Targets also tend to be young — students, with parents willing to pay ransoms, are commonly targeted. “The phenomenon has changed. Now it’s the workers, the people in the informal economy, because they are the ones who have access to money quickly,”

said Isabel Miranda de Wallace, an anti-kidnapping activist in Mexico. “We have never seen as many kidnappings as we are seeing now.” Read Article