“Express kidnapping” is on the rise in Colombia, according to the Ombudsman's Office

Cases of complaints are reported daily where people are abducted in order to ask for money for their “prompt release”. These forms of extortion have national authorities on alert, mainly the Unified Action Groups for Personal Freedom (GAULA), of the Police, Army and Prosecutor's Office.

The Office of the Ombudsman assured that, during 2021, the humanitarian efforts carried out by that body allowed the return to freedom of several people who were in the possession of illegal armed groups. Among them, the release of Colonel Pedro Enrique Pérez, on December 19 of last year, and of engineer Luis Andrés Armando Araque, on the 26th of the same month, was highlighted.

In dialogue with El Colombiano, Major Camilo Bello, commander of the Military Gaula of the Fourth Brigade, says: “It is not as easy today to commit a kidnapping as it was a few years ago. The capacity that we have Army, Prosecutor's Office and Police is no longer the same for bandits as was the case 15 or 20 years ago, when the famous miraculous fishing was done, the mass kidnappings. It is no longer possible today.” He adds that these “forms of abduction” are of short duration and not for months or years.

The authorities say that express kidnapping is not a widespread or widespread crime, but practised occasionally by some gangs and as a factor of opportunity. There are several mechanisms that criminals use to carry out this crime. One of the most frequent is to contact a citizen to offer him a business or a job, they schedule appointments in neighborhoods far from the city or rural areas, to commit kidnapping there.

Even cases have been reported where kidnapping is not actually carried out, they ensure that the victim is kept incommunicado from their relatives and/or relatives, to call them and demand money for their alleged release.

According to the figures reported by the Ombudsman's Office, the departments most affected by this crime are Valle del Cauca, which led the list with 24 cases, Antioquia with 22, Cauca with 13 and Cundinamarca with 12. Of the total number of recorded kidnappings, 44 were classified as simple kidnappings and 71 as extortive kidnappings.

The authorities emphasize establishing the complaint since, in the vast majority of these cases, they manage to capture the criminals and release the victims. In addition, they leave two recommendations: the first is not to pay the ransom and delay the supposed delivery of the silver, since, if they access too quickly, the kidnappers think they have a lot of economic capacity and can increase the numbers; the second is to call the Gaula, at the national toll-free line 165 (Police) or 147 (Army), in which they will receive expert advice.

In recent weeks, Medellín has recorded several cases of express kidnapping, one of the most recent of which occurred on March 11, when the victim, a young university student, attended an appointment he had set up with a woman he met online. Once in the agreed place, the young man was approached by twelve subjects, who intimidated him by taking him to a hotel, where they gagged him and physically and mentally assaulted him.

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