A kidnap and ransom consultant estimated in 2010 that the kidnap and ransom industry generates $500 Million for criminal gangs each year.

In addition, 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.”

Sources:

Joe Kelly, “The business of kidnapping,” The Australian, February 17, 2010.

Rachel Briggs, “The Kidnapping Business,” The Foreign Policy Centre, 2001, pg.1,
(accessed: February 19, 2007).

In 2008, there were 50,138 formal complaints to law enforcement in Mexico regarding phone extortion. Callers would normally demand ransom payments in order to return the listener’s child unharmed when in fact they did not have the child in their possession.

Out of the 50,138 formal complaints, 4,587 people paid the amount demanded by the callers.

Source:  Tracy Wilkinson, “Telephoned abduction claims bedeviling Mexico,” Los Angeles Times, February 3, 2010.

According to the Chinese Government, between 30,000 to 60,000 children go missing each year. Most of them are believed to have been abducted by child traffickers and sold to orphanages who sell them to Western Families for adoption.

Source:  Barbara Demick, “A family in China made babies their business,” Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2010.

Through November 2009, there were a reported 302 kidnappings reported in Phoenix, Arizona. The figure is slightly down from the 359 kidnappings reported in 2008.

Law enforcement officials in the state claim that the high number is related to drugs and human smuggling.

Source:  Michael Ferraresi, “Phoenix cites slight decline in kidnappings in 2009,” Arizona Republic, January 11, 2010.

According to security experts, an Algerian terror group affiliated with Al Qaeda called the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magahreb recieves up to 80 percent of their funding from kidnap and ransom activities.

Source:  John Thorne, “Kidnapping westerners is a lucrative business in the Sahel,” The National, December 20, 2009.

Global premiums paid for Kidnapping and Ransom insurance polices totals to $300 Million.

Roughly three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies carry some form of kidnapping and ransom insurance.

Source:  Nicholas Schmidle, “The Hostage Business,” New York Times, December 6, 2009.

From 2006 to 2009, American insurance company Chubb Group reported a 15 to 20 percent increase in the number of kidnapping and ransom insurance policies.

Source:  Nicholas Schmidle, “The Hostage Business,” New York Times, December 6, 2009.

According to a congressional report in Mexico, up to 18 people are believed to be kidnapped and held for ransom each day in the country.  Out of those 18, only 2 are reported to the police.

Source:  Dane Schiller, “Security firms see border boom,” Houston Chronicle, November 23, 2009.

According to Nigeria’s Police Affair Minister, over 500 people were abducted in kidnap and ransom cases in the first 6 months of 2009.

The ransom demands range between $700,000 to $3 Million, although negotiations usually bring down the actual payments.

Source:  Aderogba Obisesean, “Now it’s not just oil workers under threat from Nigeria’s kidnappers,” Telegraph, October 28, 2009.

Between 2006 to 2009, 10,000 migrants from Central America were kidnapped for ransom or extortion in Mexico. Gangs would kidnap these workers and demand money from their families back in their home countries.

Source:  Tracy Wilkinson, “Mexico town split over Central American drifters,” Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2009.