How to Avoid Being Kidnapped

Or, if you are kidnapped, how to increase your chances of being rescued

Kidnappings in Mexico had been occurring less and less over the past 20 years. For instance, there were only 1,390 kidnapping cases in 2017 out of a country of some 129 million people. Unfortunately, however, there has been a recent uptick in the number of tourists being kidnapped.

The victims of kidnappings tend to be Mexican nationals that work for an international employer with deep pockets. They are selected for kidnapping due to the fact that the kidnappers can be reasonably certain that international employers will pay the ransoms of their employees.

The chance that you will be kidnapped in Mexico has traditionally been fairly low if the following are true:

A. You are not a native Mexican.

B. You are not involved in narcotics trafficking or any other illegal activity

C. You do not work for a large, multinational company with deep pockets that operates in Mexico.

How to avoid being kidnapped

If you want to avoid being kidnapped, you can stick to the following rules: