Castellón business owner freed after 'virtual kidnap' in México

A new form of abduction on the rise, which involves luring the victim by telephone calls or internet and then leaving them in isolation whilst the captors leave the scene, in this case the unnamed professional received a call in his hotel room from a man purporting to be from the Mexican Department of Security who claimed that a major police operation was about to take place at his accommodation and advised him to leave the complex immediately, buy a Mexican mobile phone and move to another hotel where the police force had booked him a room.

The business owner, who works in the tile industry in the eastern Spanish province and regularly travels to México, went to the hotel near where he was staying in Monterrey as instructed and found himself locked in a room.

Next, the kidnappers rang his firm and ordered his co-director to stump up 100,000 euros for his release and to guarantee he would make it out of captivity alive.

According to the victim, he did not realise it was an abduction at first, and thought it was merely a case of fraud.

His co-director called the Guardia Civil, who notified their specialist abduction and extortion team, contacted the Mexican authorities and the victim's family.

The business owner was held locked in the room for 10 hours, but his captors were elsewhere and in constant contact with him by telephone and made him think he was being watched constantly – even though they had left the area.

Police from Spain then contacted him to say his life was not in danger and instructed him how to leave the hotel and head to a safe and secret place where the Mexican authorities would take over his protection.

The victim, who often has to go to México on business and frequently to the Monterrey area, said he was, and is still, terrified but will not stop travelling to the North American country where he has 'good friends' and carries out a great deal of trade.

“Dangers are out there, even though you don't realise it,” the victim confessed.

“I knew there were cases of kidnap in México and especially among Spanish-speaking people, but I didn't know they happened this way.”

He is the fourth Spaniard in two months to suffer a 'virtual kidnap', two of the others being a businessman from Catalunya and a musician from the rock band Delorean.

Guardia Civil officers advise people who may be in danger or who travel to areas where kidnap of foreigners is common should not give out their mobile telephone numbers, not pay any ransom – because this could lead to further extortion and possible death-threats – and contact the police as soon as possible after any attempt at fraud, blackmail or abduction.

They also say that if travellers receive any calls from unknown persons, especially asking them to meet somewhere, they should remain completely silent, not give any personal details and hang up without a word after the first 10 to 15 seconds.