MEXICO CITY: Federal police apprehended nine members of a kidnapping and extortion ring in the northern state of Tamaulipas, Mexico’s National Security Commission said.
Two suspects were nabbed as a result of the investigation into an abduction that occurred last month.
Police also have evidence linking those two individuals to three other kidnappings in Ciudad Victoria, the state capital, the commission said in a statement.
In another case involving the same criminal outfit, police assisting the family of a hostage during negotiations with the kidnappers were able to identify a vehicle used by the suspects.
Once the captive was freed in exchange for a ransom, the officers followed the vehicle to a rendezvous with the abductors’ apparent accomplices, at which point the police moved in and arrested seven people.
The suspects were in possession of two handguns, the ransom money and communications gear.
The nine men detained were handed over to the organized crime division of the federal Attorney General’s Office, the National Security Commission said.