Mexican police linked to rising kidnappings

Corrupt police are nothing new in Mexico. However, the latest development in the country -- in which two police officers have been arrested in suspicion of the kidnapping and slaying of the 14-year-old son of a rich businessman -- is a shocking reminder of the levels to which the nation's police work in collusion with the criminal underworld. A third man -- allegedly a civilian -- was also taken into custody in connection with the crime.

"When their 14-year-old son was snatched off the street by armed men in early June, the Marti family reportedly did what many wealthy Mexicans do in such a crisis," writes the L.A. Times' Marla Dickerson.

"The founders of a chain of sporting goods stores hired a private negotiator to deal directly with the kidnappers. They said nothing to police or to the press. They paid millions of dollars in ransom money. Then they waited for a signal that the boy had been released."

"It was not to be."

"Fernando Marti's decomposed, bullet-riddled body was found Friday in the trunk of a stolen Chevy that had been abandoned in a working-class Mexico City neighborhood. For many, Monday's news was equally bad: Authorities said they had arrested at least one city police commander in connection with the crime and that other cops might be involved."

The discovery of Marti's body shocked and saddened the nation. He was buried Aug. 3, and a front-page photo in the national daily Reforma showed a black hearse followed by a procession of luxury cars. There were so many flowers, according to one report, that they had to be transported to the cemetery in a cargo truck.

Since Dickerson's dispatch Monday night, a second policeman has been arrested -- Fernando Hernández, who is part of the judicial police, according to El Universal (stoy is in Spanish).

The kidnapping and slaying of the 14-year-old and the alleged involvement of Mexican policemen also cuts to the heart of opposition to the Merida Initiative, which was approved by the U.S Congress in June and puts $400 million of U.S. funding into Mexico's law enforcement agencies, supposedly to aid their fight against the country's powerful drug cartels and organized crime networks.

Opponents of the controversial bill allege that it would put more money into the hands of police who repeatedly have been cited for corruption and human rights abuses.

As Dickerson notes in her dispatch, the campaign against drug gangs as well as other violent criminals has been repeatedly compromised by corrupt police officers, pushing Mexico's President Felipe Calderon to turn to the army.

Read more about Fernando Marti's case here.

Click here for more on the Merida Initiative and the drug trade.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Mexican police watch over last year's Independence Day celebrations in Mexico City's Zocalo. Credit: Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Merk]

I do not believe this statement:

"The authorities knew that if they attacked the drug trafficking and took away that cash flow that the delinquents would look for something else," said Maria Elena Morera, head of a citizens anti-crime organization in Mexico City. "The tragic death of Fernando Marti symbolizes what many Mexicans are living through."

First, there is zero evidence that drug sales have been reduced. Second, there is little or no evidence that drug traffickers are kidnappers.

These are just stupid police trying to make more money. So don't use this case as an argument against drugs, which should be LEGALIZED. That is a different situation, which causes its own problems. In other words, do not mix apples and oranges! Thank you.

[Gilbert]

I do not believe governments are at fault, corruption begins with ordinary citizens and it escalates in to government officials.
I really hope that all of those lawbreaking people get what they deserve.

[Henry]

I really hate this world.

[Jennifer]

US Congress members who voted for the Merida Initiative, including the entire NY delegation, are culpable in this kind of violence. Stop Plan Mexico!