| A former police officer (center) from Mexico who led the kidnapping organization. Twitter grab from the Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Jalisco, Mexico |
It was revealed late that a ‘veteran police officer’, who had served as a police officer in Mexico for 20 years, had led a kidnapping organization and had committed various illegal acts.
According to the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office on the 19th (local time), the prosecution’s kidnapping investigation unit arrested seven people, including Pablo Eriberto, on charges of participating in several kidnappings in the city of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco. Eriberto and others have been accused of committing kidnapping crimes in Guadalajara over the past decades, including forcibly taking ordinary people into their homes and then demanding a ransom in exchange for their release.
Their most recent offense was last April. After kidnapping a chicken seller, he demanded 100 million won (1.5 million pesos) from his family, and then released them after receiving 6.9 million won (100,000 pesos) and a Japanese-made sports utility vehicle (SUV). The prosecution conducted an investigation into the people involved for three months and revealed the identity of these organisations.
In particular, it became clear that Eriberto was a police officer who had served for 24 years, especially in Guadalajara. Prosecutors believe that he, who faked his identity and led the organization, secretly accessed the internal network of the police and leaked confidential information, or even helped cover up to prevent the arrest of members of the investigative network. Prosecutors said kidnappings occur frequently in the area Eriberto is responsible for.
Guadalajara Mayor Pablo Remus Navarro tweeted, “This officer has been in public service for 24 years and attacked citizens.”
Reporter Im Jeong-hwan
