Terror has struck Mexico again this Friday with the kidnapping by armed groups of 25 people from three families in Culiacán, Sinaloa. During the early hours of this Saturday, authorities reported that nine adults and nine minors had been released. Nothing is known yet about the seven remaining victims. The national government responded to the kidnapping by sending federal forces.
The first reports from the Ministry of Public Security pointed to organized crime in the area of La Noria, about 30 kilometers from Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa. The calls for help continued until Friday afternoon. “It is not possible to specify a number of people deprived of liberty, since complaints are still being received and the families of the victims are being attended to,” they said initially from the Prosecutor's Office on the X network. As the hours progress, the The number of kidnapped people was set at 25, members of three families.
The Secretary of Public Security of Sinaloa, Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, said that they received alert calls between dawn and this Friday morning: “There were four calls, one at four in the morning, three at 9:26. There is unofficial knowledge until now, security personnel are already working in the area to corroborate the data of three families who were picked up, taken from their homes,” he declared.
In relation to the events that occurred yesterday in the city of Culiacán, I inform you:
The @FiscaliaSinaloa received complaints in relation to a total of 25 people deprived of their liberty.
Since yesterday, as we reported in a timely manner, since the…
— Rubén Rocha Moya (@rochamoya_) March 23, 2024
The lack of clarity has increased fear among the inhabitants of the State, hit by violent events of national significance. Deputy Prosecutor Dámaso Castro Saavedra has confirmed that the number of calls for help had increased to six, according to the newspaper Northwest. Castro Saavedra also confirmed that the kidnappings occurred in various parts of Culiacán and in towns near the urban center of the capital, such as La Noria, El Palmito, Villa Bonita or Lomas de Magisterio.
The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, initially minimized the situation and spoke of only 15 people kidnapped. Hours later, he celebrated the release of 18 victims out of a total of 25 on the Rocha Moya announced the arrival from Mexico City of two special forces battalions with more than 600 men, as well as 300 members of the regional task forces and a battalion of the National Guard “to contribute to the search for the people who were reported.” as missing.”
This Thursday, after a confrontation between alleged rival drug trafficking groups, the bodies of three murdered men were found, all three completely burned and two of them decapitated in San Miguel del Llano Badiraguato. The National Guard, the Mexican Army and the State Prosecutor's Office went to the scene to respond to the emergency. The authorities deny that this has anything to do with the events of this Friday.
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