Kidnap & Ransom Awareness

Security consultants in kidnap and extortion negotiations, our security advisors provide immediate response to advise participants on strategy and outcomes. This service can be critical in bringing the situation to a safe resolution. Our staff acts exclusively as advisors, analyzing the situation and guiding clients in handling these complex situations.   

Kidnap extortion and detention are real dangers for companies operating both overseas and in domestic markets.

Most kidnaps are carried out in order to obtain a ransom, and in most cases a ransom is paid, rescues are rare, largely because the authorities in most countries recognize that the safety of the victim is paramount.

Kidnappings and extortion are on the increase. The highest risk areas in the world are South America, Colombia and Mexico. Colombia for the most kidnappings and the highest ransom demands. For many criminals kidnapping is a business, kidnappings are often professional, well-planned operations lasting considerable periods of time.  

Mexico's kidnapping problem has developed a billion-dollar-a-year private security industry, which provides rich families, large corporations and businesses with bodyguards, armored cars, prevention training even kidnap negotiators.

A kidnapping occurs every six hours on average. Mexico is now second only to war-torn Colombia in the number of annual kidnappings. While few victims are killed, few perpetrators in this thriving multimillion-dollar industry are ever caught.

More common "express kidnap" in which a victim is briefly abducted, forced to withdraw money from ATMs, and then released, this is considered violent robbery under Mexican law. Government statistics indicate there are more than 10 express kidnaps a day here or about 4,000 a year.

Another new trend is the "virtual kidnap" gangs go for young professionals driving expensive cars, and usually negotiate their ransoms and releases within about 36 hours.

Though kidnap victims in the US are more likely to be killed, Mexico's highly organized kidnap gangs usually threaten to injure their victims if families don't raise ransoms quickly. Some are known for sending body parts, often a finger or an ear, to show they're serious.

This criminal practice was first introduced in modern history during the early 1970s by the guerrilla movements and, later, also by criminal groups. Guerrilla groups widely exploited this practice. Regular criminal organizations also kidnap and sell persons of interest to guerrilla groups.

By July 2005, the FARC alone had an estimated 2500 kidnapped civilians, without including the number of military servicemen or government officials. The paramilitary groups were estimated to have kidnapped 500 people between 1996 and 2004. Paramilitary groups unusually asked victims for a ransom while the guerrillas use this practice to profit.

Since the 1970s kidnappings in Colombia gradually increased until 2001. In the year 2000 alone the number of kidnapped people in Colombia rose to 3572. This number declined steadily in the following years, reaching 687 kidnappings in 2006. Despite this sizable reduction in the number of kidnappings after 2001, the number of victims continue to be one of the highest in the world. 

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