Three Men Sentenced to 20 Years for Extortion in Cancún

Cancún, Quintana Roo — A judge has sentenced three men to 20 years in prison for extortion after prosecutors proved their role in threatening and attempting to abduct two victims at an ambulance company in Benito Juárez, the municipality that covers Cancún.

The Quintana Roo State Prosecutor’s Office (FGE) identified the defendants as Johan Castro Duarte, Andy Román López Reyez, and Erick Jair Díaz Rivero. The victims’ identities were protected by the court.

Threats and a botched abduction

According to investigators, on June 8, 2020, one of the victims received phone calls demanding 1.5 million pesos and threatening to kill him if he did not pay. The three men later arrived at the ambulance business, located in the city’s Supermanzana 68 district, carrying firearms and tried to take the victim by force. He managed to escape and keep them from entering the building.

The men left but returned about 10 minutes later, forcing their way into the rest area where both victims were hiding. One victim fled, but the other was cornered and threatened. The attackers said they would take him to force his relatives to pay the ransom.

Municipal police officers arrived at the scene and arrested the three men in the act.

Sentencing

At the sentencing hearing, the judge imposed a 20-year prison term on each defendant, along with a fine of 86,880 pesos and an additional 39,000 pesos each for victim restitution.