Hijacked ships off Somalia coast net at least $10,000 in ransom
Source: Daniel Wallis, “Piracy ransoms funding Somalia insurgency,” Reuters, August 24, 2008.
As many as 7,000 people kidnaped in Mexico in 2007
Estimates by independent crime researches in Mexico state that as many as 7,000 people could have been kidnapped in Mexico in 2007.
Source: Reuters, “Satellites track Mexico kidnap victims with chips,” Yahoo News, August 21, 2008.
Kidnapping in Mexico increased 40 percent between 2004 and 2007
Source: Reuters, “Satellites track Mexico kidnap victims with chips,” Yahoo News, August 21, 2008.
More than 430 kidnapping in Mexico reported in 2007
Figure is up 45 percent from the previous year.
Source: “Mexico launches anti-kidnap squad,” BBC News, August 12, 2008.
Kidnap and Ransom Market Value: $500 Million
The Foreign Policy Centre, a think-tank located in the Untied Kingdom, estimated in 2001 that “kidnappers globally take home well over $500 million each year - and rising.”
Source: Rachel Briggs, “The Kidnapping Business,” The Foreign Policy Centre, 2001, pg.1,
(accessed: February 19, 2007).
30 to 50 kidnappings a day in Mexico in 2008
Source: Franco Ordonez, “Kidnappings Soar in Mexico as drug gangs seek new income,” McClatchy News(Via Yahoo News), April 22, 2008.
$200 million paid in kidnap insurance in 2006
Source: Simon Challis, ” Hostage dramas reveal rising corporate kidnap risk,” Reuters.com, November 30, 2006.
