A US security consultant who negotiated the release of dozens of kidnap victims in Latin America has himself been kidnapped by masked gunmen in northern Mexico.
The gunmen abducted Felix Batista outside a restaurant last Wednesday in the relatively safe industrial city of Saltillo in Coahuila state, Mexican authorities and his employer, security consultancy ASI Global, have revealed.
"We have notified the
FBI and Mexican authorities, and they are working on the case," said Charlie LeBlanc, chairman of ASI.
Mr LeBlanc said Mr Batista had his own security business and that "he was in Mexico for business that wasn't associated with our company".
He added: "Part of that could be or may involve negotiations with kidnappers."
ASI's website advertises "kidnap and ransom response" and says the company has worked for major insurance companies.
Mr Batista was frequently cited as an anti-kidnapping expert at conferences. A story in the December issue of the trade magazine Security Management describes how Mr Batista organised relatives' response to a kidnapping in Mexico, even cooking the family meals at times. He advised the family during months-long negotiations that eventually reduced the ransom request to about a third of the original amount demanded. The victim was eventually released.
Kidnapping is a rising problem in Mexico, but attacks on US anti-crime consultants have largely been the stuff of movies. In a 2004 film, Man on Fire, Denzel Washington played a US security consultant who takes on Mexican kidnappers and is abducted himself.
Between 2001 and 2008, there were 5,140 reported kidnappings in Mexico, the country's human rights ombudsman's office said in a report released on Monday.
Since only one in every four kidnappings is reported to the police, who are often perceived as corrupt or in league with criminals, that number could be as high as 20,000. Close to 99 per cent of all crimes in Mexico are left unsolved, said the ombudsman, as an inefficient justice system clogs ups with cases bogged down by shoddy investigations.
More than 5,300 people have been killed in drug violence across Mexico this year, double the number killed last year, as cartels fight each other over smuggling routes to the United States and clash with Mexican army and police.
Recently Coahuila governor Humberto Moreira set off a nationwide controversy by proposing to reinstate the death penalty for kidnappers who kill their victims. Yesterday, Mr Moreira refused to talk about Mr Batista's kidnapping and said only that "it is one of so many kidnappings and like all of them it is deplorable".
Coahuila state officials said Mr Batista had been giving talks to local police officials and businessmen on how to prevent or avoid kidnappings.
The web profile of Mr Batista – later removed from ASI's site – described him as "the primary case officer for all cases throughout the Latin American region".
