Kidnapping victims in Mexico increased by 40% in March

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The number of kidnapping victims in Mexico increased by 40%  in March, when 154 cases were registered compared to 110 in February 2021, reported Monday the NGO Alto al Secuestro.

Meanwhile, the number of kidnappings had a slight increase of 4.6 % compared to February, as a total of 90 cases were registered in March compared to 86 in the previous month.

The NGO detailed that out of the 90 kidnappings registered in March 2021, the authorities only accounted for 53, while out of the 154 victims, only 64 were officially registered.

According to the figures released by this organization, the number of detainees related to the crime of kidnapping in Mexico increased by 31 %, with a total of 131 compared to the 100 alleged perpetrators arrested in February.

The states with the highest incidence of this crime were Mexico with 18, Veracruz with 11, and Baja California with 7.

The rate of kidnappings per 100,000 inhabitants reflects that the states with the highest incidence are Veracruz, Morelos, Zacatecas, Quintana Roo, Colima, Tabasco, State of Mexico, Mexico City, Tlaxcala, Tamaulipas, and Guerrero, in that order.

With more favorable data, the states that reported no kidnappings in the third month of the year were Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Coahuila, Durango, Nayarit and Yucatán.

In terms of accumulated kidnappings, the organization counted 3,478 cases between December 1, 2018, and March 28, 2021, with Veracruz being the state with the highest number (720), followed by the State of Mexico (596) and Mexico City (301).

It also reported that federal authorities attended only 5.5% of the total number of victims.

According to official figures, so far, in Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), kidnappings have decreased by 37.4 %.

In 2020, 34,514 victims of intentional homicide were registered compared to 34,648 in 2019, a year in which there was a record.