Ecatepec, State of Mexico — Three men pretending to be local internet providers were arrested on kidnapping charges Wednesday. They were taken to an Ecatepec jail after police rescued five members of a family who had been kidnapped inside their own home in the Granjas Valle de Guadalupe neighborhood of the city.
Police say they were flagged down by a man who said members of his family had been kidnapped. When police arrived and opened the door to the home, they found five people gagged and bound at hands and feet.
Inside the home, two of the three men tried to flee by fence-jumping into a neighbor’s yard, while the third made way for the street. Police were successful in capturing and arresting all three.
The man who made the report to police said “I received a call from some people trying to extort me by telling me that they had my family kidnapped. In the call they asked me for 20,000 pesos per person.”
Realizing it was a real extortion attempt, the family relative notified police. The three men who held the family of five arrived at their door as faux internet workers, outfitted with a company car and company shirts. From there, they were able to access the home.
Arrested are 27-year-old Pablo N, Santiago N, 42 and Víctor N, 46. The three men were transferred to the San Agustín Justice Center where the victims filed the corresponding complaints.