Kidnapped in Mexico Our World

This is the call every family in Mexico dreads receiving. A kidnapper

demanding a ransom. According to some experts, up to 20

people are kidnapped here every single day.

I'm Vladimir Hernandez and I'm going to meet the people struggling to put

their lives back together after being captured. It's changed my

life, I don't trust anyone, I'm always afraid. And in a rare

interview, I come face to face with a man who claims he is a kidnapper.

I never start fights, but if one happens, I make the most of it by

stabbing you in your stomach or biting your face. I think it makes

an impression. I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about death,

torture, violence with such ease. As usual, I was taking my girls to

school. I'm driving around the corner but I see a van right in

front of me. It won't let me pass. When I look back I can see another

van behind blocking my way. I turned around hoping to see my girls out of

the car, but one was still trapped. My other daughter was almost run

over. As I turned around, everything went black.

Jose was kidnapped a year ago. During the ordeal he was shot in the

back and hasn't walked since. I came back to my senses while I was being

dragged across the pavement. They threw me inside like a sack of

potatoes. I'm only hoping my girls are well They Start Asking For

Money. One Of Them Says," $40 Million", I Reply, Where Do I Get

That Kind Of Money? They Seem Shocked. One of them says, so, it's

not you? He calls someone and says, bass, we screwed up, but they're

told to take us anyway. Jose has never spoken publicly about his

experience before. He's scared it could happen again so we've

disguised his identity and aren't using his real name. They threw me

into a disgusting bathroom and covered my eyes. I was handcuffed. I

still have the scars. I thought they had taken my daughters for

trafficking. Growing up in Latin America, I knew family members who

were kidnapped. But here in Mexico, experiences like Jose's are now

becoming a normal part of daily life. Very few countries have such a

high kidnapped rate as Mexico. And it's a crime that is not only

affecting the wealthy but anyone in this society walking down the

streets, anyone can be a quick fix of cash for the kidnappers.

According to the authorities, 1500 people were kidnapped in Mexico last

year. But the national Institute of statistics estimates at least

100,000 people are taken and only a tiny fraction of cases are reported

to the police. When a kidnapper happens, many people don't trust the

police to help. Instead they turn to the services of private negotiators

like Max Mirallas. He has helped thousands of families.

He tells me the police hadn't done enough.

Someone may ask, though, what's the benefit of kidnapping someone who's

extremely poor? Kidnapping doesn't just affect

people in the big cities. Another victim, we'll call him Roberto, was

working as a blacksmith fixing iron barred to a window in rural Mexico

when he was taking. I got out my tape measure and started measuring

the Windows. At that moment the other people arrived. There was a

boy, about 14, I could see from his height he was quite young. He was

just a kid. Another young guy, he had a pistol, a gun, and he pointed

it at me. They were yelling, they threw me to the ground, they kicked

me in the face and the Reds. I just thought it was a robbery. -- ribs. I

never thought everything that was going to happen would happen. While

he was being held the kidnappers went to his house and took his wife

and two children. The kidnappers then let him go and demanded an

impossibly high ransom for his family. They were eventually freed

with the help of the police. The authorities are keen to

publicise the success of raids like this across the country.

These police videos show ordinary men, women and even children who

have been rescued from kidnappers. In Mexico state, the police are

preparing for an armed raid. Today, this is only a training

exercise. Did you get a big reward when you do

these operations? This time police film themselves in

action on a real raid. While it might look dramatic, this is just a

small part of their role. They work with families behind closed doors to

try to persuade the kidnappers to release their captives. When Jose

was kidnapped, his wife, Maria, not her real name, contacted the

police. A negotiating team moved into her house to help her talk to

her kidnappers. TRANSLATION: They told me I had to be calm. They said

they're going to ask if you're with the police but on no account must

they know there's someone supporting you. The phone was ringing in

another room. As soon as I heard it I rushed to answer, but I couldn't

get there in time, I was very anxious, breeding rapidly. The

negotiator said, don't worry, they'll call again, try to keep calm

because the karma you are the more you will notice when you speak to

them again and the situation will turn in your favour. You will have

control. The phone rings again, this time I answer. The kidnappers start

speaking but I can't take it any more, I don't even listen to what

they're saying. I hold the phone away and take a deep breath and I

said, I want to know where my husband is and I want to speak to

him. If I don't speak to him then I won't listen to you any more. He

says the quiet, the quiet, we'll put him on the line in a minute but make

sure you answer. He hangs up on me. The phone rings again. This time I

answer. The quiet, the kidnapper says, I'm going to put your husband

on the line, listen well. He puts someone on the phone who is supposed

to be my husband. I can't recognise him, I can hardly hear him. I can't

understand what he's saying, I then lose it. I only remember shouting

down the phone, I don't understand, I don't know who it is, I can't hear

what he's saying. Someone tries to talk to me on the phone but I just

carry on until I tell them, I only want to hear from my husband and

nothing else. I slammed the phone down. I turned to the negotiators

and say, what have I done? What would drive a man to shoot

someone as they're taking their kids to school? To find out I'm trying to

arrange to meet a kidnapper. But it's almost impossible to get anyone

to talk openly. To try and understand how kidnappers

think, I arranged to meet a police negotiator. He agrees to play me

recordings of a kidnapper made during a recent case. What sort of

things are they saying? Because he deals with kidnappers all the time,

he asks us to hide his identity. It's difficult to listen to the

calls, their abusive, as the kidnapper tries to scare and

intimidate the family. Have you heard from this criminal

gang before? Are they familiar to you?

The man who was kidnapped is a bus driver. And when kidnappers are

ready to make a deal, their tone changes.

The negotiators team eventually managed to free the bus driver, but

I can hear how scared the family are during the ordeal. And after many

calls and dead ends, I finally arranged to meet a man who claims he

is a kidnapper. It is a risky operation. He won't reveal his

identity, and we have to meet in a secret location. It is hard not to

feel uneasy about the prospect. We've been very careful ahead of

this meeting. Still, there is a sense of eeriness and expectation

about meeting someone who kidnaps people for a living. When I finally

do meet him I am surprised to find he doesn't look much older than a

teenager. There are lots of different ways of kidnapping

someone. Generally, I stare at the victim, let them see my eyes. They

start crying, and I said, calm down, bro, we will do this the civilised

way. I don't want to traumatise you. I am interested in the money, that's

all. So, just co-operate, you know? Stay cool and speak nicely to the

boss. If you can do that this will all go nicely. But if not, sorry,

well, I am going to (BLLE) you are up -- (BLEEP). You don't have to go

for the victim, you can go for his girlfriend and say, you have such a

pretty face. You can put underwater, show it to her and say, now, tell me

whether (BLEEP) is Ore will pour it on you, and because of the

girlfriend is pretty, she will grass him up. It works with the wives too.

Do you ever think about the relatives of the victim of the

people you have kidnapped? Yes. For sure. Of course -- pour. We are

still human. But it is very rarely do something to someone who doesn't

deserve it. I don't start fights, but if one happens, I make the most

of it. Something normal, like, I stab you in the stomach, or if I am

trying to impress, I will bite your face or just remove something from

you, maybe cut your throat with a knife and then I mess with the

windpipe a little bit. I think it makes an impression.

With drugs, you have clients, and it is continuous, but kidnapping is the

fastest weight. You can make anything up to $2 million, so it is

hard to give up -- way. No, no, I don't have any regrets about the

people I have killed. But the truth is, I have already (BLEEP) my life,

so it doesn't really matter. I can't verify what he said, but I am shaken

by meeting him. I don't think I've ever heard anyone

talk about death, torture, violence, with such ease, with such

coldness to themselves. It is frightening because he was just like

an ordinary young man talking about horrible things, no remorse, no

regrets, knowing he was going to die soon, probably. It was just

frightening, really. Official police statistics show the number of

kidnappings have fallen since last year. But with jobs hard to come

by, many feel they have no option but to turn to organised crime. And,

having spoken to the kidnapper, I can't see how things are going to

change. So, I've come to meet the head of the state of Mexico's anti-

kidnapping department in the hope of getting some answers. Do you feel

you are winning this battle? Like the state authorities, the

police say they are winning this battle. And dozens of families are

reunited with their loved ones every month. When Jose was taken, his two

daughters were able to escape, but he was held for a week before he

finally saw his wife, Maria, again. There was a big manhunt under way in

the state where we lived. There were helicopters flying above us all the

time. The night before, they brought a doctor in. I could hardly speak by

then. They asked the doctor how long I had to live. Two days, he said.

That must have been when they decided to dump me. That night, the

phone rings, but it is the police. Has anyone called you, I am asked. I

said no, but the tone of the questions that are different to me.

Ten minutes later the phone rings again. All I hear is, your husband

has been found. They put me in a car and drove me for a short while. Then

they threw me out onto a patch of waste ground. After they left, I

started shouting, because I could see lots of lights around me but I

couldn't move. I had to wait for the police to pick me up to take me to

wear Jose was. My brothers were with me. -- where. Eventually, I saw a

man and a small boy working nearby. It was a child who saw me. They lend

me their phone and I could call the emergency services -- walking. The

police came first and then an ambulance. I was fighting for my

life. I finally get there and he is in bad shape, but he is back. I was

just happy to have been released. I wanted to live.

But the scars from kidnapping take a long time to heal. Jose is still not

able to walk. And it seems that unless there are drastic changes

here, there experiences will keep on being repeated right across the

country -- there. There are people who don't even think, they just act.

I don't think they realise the harm they cause. Roberto, the blacksmith,

has been traumatised by the attack. He still doesn't know why he was

targeted. It has changed my life. I don't trust anyone. My wife hardly

leaves the house any more. I am always afraid. Do you think you will

ever stop being afraid? Not while there are crimes like this. I don't

know why we have this level of crime, whether it is to do with the

economy or a lack of work, I don't know. What makes me sad is that one

of them was just a child. He could have been a school, preparing to be

a good person, an educated person. Why would he do this?