Virtual Kidnapping Rescue in Cancún Fumigation Case

Cancún, Mexico — Authorities have rescued another victim of a virtual kidnapping in Cancún, this time an employee of a fumigation company who was lured under false pretenses to the highway leading to Leona Vicario, where he was ultimately located by police.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of Friday, October 3 of this year, when it was reported that a person had once again fallen victim to a virtual kidnapping in the municipality of Benito Juárez, Quintana Roo.

Employees of a Cancún fumigation company alerted authorities via a 911 call, reporting that one of their coworkers had informed them he was the victim of a crime and that some individuals were demanding a ransom payment of 30 thousand pesos.

Following the report, authorities began a search for the individual. Shortly thereafter, they managed to locate him by tracking the GPS signal from his cell phone.

By tracking the signal, authorities located the fumigation company's truck that the virtual kidnapping victim had been driving on the road connecting Cancún to Leona Vicario. However, the person was not inside the vehicle.

The search continued until they found him in the town of Emiliano Zapata. There, the man recounted that some individuals had forced him to get out of the truck and continue on a dirt road.

Once located, the man from Cancún was placed under the protection of authorities, while the vehicle was taken to the facilities of the Benito Juárez Citizen Security department.

More Cases Across Quintana Roo

Cases of virtual kidnapping are becoming increasingly common in Quintana Roo. In fact, just hours earlier, another person had been rescued in Cancún.

In that instance, the victim was a young man who, after being unaccounted for over several hours, was finally found walking in the streets of the city.

According to reports, the events occurred on the night of Wednesday, October 1, when the disappearance of a young man was reported in the municipality of Benito Juárez. His family had received a call in which individuals claimed to be holding the person against his will.

On one hand, this Cancún family received the call claiming their son had been kidnapped. The alleged kidnappers subsequently demanded a sum of money in exchange for the victim's supposed release.

On the other hand, the young man had received another phone call in which the same criminals, using deception, forced him to leave his home, sending him from one location to another so that his parents could not contact him, as his phone line was also kept busy.

Once authorities were able to interview him, the young man reported that, under threat, the subjects forced him to leave his home and go to a shopping mall, while simultaneously pressuring the family to hand over a sum of money for the "release" of the supposedly kidnapped victim.