Abduction in Mexico: a crime without clear data that is not reported

The National Victimization Survey (Envipe) 2018 of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) indicated that 81,291 Mexicans They admitted that they, or a member of their family, had been kidnapped in 2017.

"During 2017, a member of this household, including you, he has undergone an express kidnapping or removal to require money Inegi asked in his report that a total of 81,291 people responded in the affirmative.

If we take this figure as a reference, there would have been 200 kidnappings a day in the country. However, the numbers differ. That year they did not appear 1,387 investigation files on this crime across Mexico, according to the data of the executive secretariat of the national system of public security.

This lack of investigations and the clarity of the figures are due to the no complaint: in 2018, only one in 10 kidnappings have been reported.

"There is no credible figure No one can introduce you Most do not trust the police and when that happens, they end up looking for contact with a senior government official; some arrive with the federal police, but they do not have jurisdiction in the local jurisdiction, so the figures are not reflected, "Pablo Carstens, the kidnapping negotiations specialist, told the newspaper. L & # 39; universal.

Over the past decade, complaints have increased but are far from reality. In 2007, 438 research files were opened.in 2008, 907 were registered.

The highest data of the last twelve years were recorded in 2013, the first year of government former President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, when 1,683 cases were presented.

In order to stop this increase, the executive headed byPRI politician has allocated 75.3 million pesos Define a strategy to combat this crime. A plan, experts say, that did not work.

"This is not a phenomenon, it is something that is mutating, but it is still increasing. no public measure having an impact on its impact "Pablo Cartens added to the digital newspaper.

Between 2012 and 2017, 593,316 Mexicans they answered yes to the Inegi question, their relatives or the interviewees who had been kidnapped for the purpose of extorting them.

According to the figures of the complaint, Baja California, Mexico City, Tlaxcala and Baja California Sur were the states in which the number of kidnappings per 100,000 population was higher in 2006. At the end of the Government of PAN Felipe Calderón, this trend has changed and Guerrero, Morelos, Tamaulipas and Coahuila they became the states with the largest number of kidnappings.

Despite these estimates, the lack of clarity in the numbers prevents us from knowing which territories are most affected at the moment. The absence of complaints and the increase in the number of kidnappings in recent years make it important for each State to evaluate your ability to cope with this problem, and take effective measures to combat the impunity of the perpetrators.