Four chicken warehouse workers in Mexico have been kidnapped and local media claims there is a connection to a gang based in Michoacán.
The four men, identified by local media as Rigoberto Colin Consuelo, 41, Jaime Ramón Reyes, 22, Isidro Díaz Casimiro, 40, and Eliseo Escobar Ramírez, 47, were kidnapped in a chicken warehouse in the Nuevo Oxtotitlán neighborhood of Toluca, Mexico, early Friday morning.
Security footage reportedly captured the kidnapping and has been circulating on social media. Mexican journalist Mario Rodríguez posted the video on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote, "Four chicken sellers were deprived of their liberty by an armed group in #Toluca." The video shows the four men being forced into a white van by the kidnappers.
On Sunday, the Mexican Secretariat of Security posted a mugshot of a "possible generator of violence" in the kidnapping on X.
"Intelligence work and operational coordination with @SSPCMexico, allowed #PolicíasEstatales to stop a possible generator of violence in the Mexican entity," the translated post said.
"According to the data collected, the detainee mainly extorted merchants, carrying out what in the criminal field they call 'floor collection', and even actively participated in the kidnapping of four people, a video broadcast on social networks."
While the Mexican Secretariat of Security has yet to name the detainee, local media reports that he has ties to the Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana.
Mexico has been overrun with drug cartels and gang violence with reports of extortion and missing people increasing since 2018.
Despite the spike in crime, less than four percent of criminal investigations get solved in Mexico, according to a 2022 study.
"The criminals are emboldened, because they know there's practically zero chance of facing any punishment," Eduardo Guerrero, a Mexico City-based security consultant told The New York Times. "They know they can do whatever they want, that's the common denominator."
The increase in criminal violence has prompted Mexican citizens to look for a safe haven in the U.S. There has been a surge of illegal migrant crossings at the U.S-Mexico border in recent years.
In the 2023 fiscal year, which ended in September, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) had 3.2 million encounters, according to USBP data. Encounter data includes USBP Title 8 Apprehensions, Office of Field Operations (OFO) Title 8 Inadmissibles, and Title 42 Expulsions.
Mexicans flee, in part, because of drug cartels threatening them with recruitment, extortion, or even death, according to migration experts.
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