PHOENIX - A woman leaving an eyeglass store is grabbed in the parking lot by four men who force her, kicking and screaming, into a pickup. The kidnappers demand a $900,000 ransom.But police soon realize her family is holding something back and isn't fully cooperating with them. Later, investigators find out that relatives have arranged the woman's release on their own. And they discover that members of the family are heavy into marijuana trafficking.
The case illustrates how a terrifyingly common crime in Latin America has moved across the border into the United States: Criminals and their family members are being kidnapped by fellow criminals and held for six-figure ransoms.
The abductions are occurring in the Phoenix area at the rate of practically one per day...
Phoenix had more than 340 such kidnappings reported last year, but police said the real number is much higher because many cases go unreported.
The San Diego area has also seen a rise in kidnappings over the past year, with two or three reported during busy weeks...Hostages are often tortured as the kidnappers try to force families to meet their demands.
-msnbc.msn.com
MEXICAN GOVERNMENT OPENS MEXICAN SCHOOLS....IN AMERICA
The Mexican government opened its latest Plaza Comunitaria, or Community Plaza, Thursday at San Fernando Middle School, minutes from Vidal’s house. There are 13 such centers throughout Los Angeles County, aimed at helping Mexican nationals complete their basic education. The centers offer free classes, in person or through video and the Internet, to Mexican nationals living in the U.S.
-source
MEXICO CITY, Jan. 4 -- Drug cartels are trying to influence the outcomes of major elections in Mexico by kidnapping and threatening candidates, according to Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora.
Medina Mora's assessment of the problem is one of the most alarming to date by a member of Calder¿n's administration. Besides trying to influence state elections, drug cartels have penetrated deeply at the municipal level, he said.
"There are municipal police forces that have collapsed, that function more as an aid to organized crime than as protection for the public," Medina Mora said.
-washingtonpost.com
Wake up America.
Your Government today exists for the express purpose of profiting the super-Rich and dispossessing the native born White tax-payer from his property and country...
