Authorities rescue victims in separate kidnapping and extortion cases

Authorities in Mexico and Ecuador have successfully intervened in separate kidnapping and extortion incidents.

In Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, Mexico, municipal cyber police rescued a young woman from a virtual kidnapping. Criminals used phone calls and threats, posing as members of a criminal group, to force the victim to move to various locations while remaining isolated from her family. The perpetrators demanded a ransom from the victim's relatives. Following a search operation, officers intercepted a public transport unit near the La Virgen residential area, where they located the woman and reunited her with her family.

In Quito, Ecuador, three men—identified as Marc Anthony, Ricardo Andrés, and Brandon Shariel B—have been placed in preventive detention for the extortionate kidnapping of an app-based driver. The suspects allegedly posed as passengers before assaulting the driver and demanding $10,000 for his release. The victim managed to cry out for help during a routine police operation in Calderón, leading to the suspects' arrest. The driver was found bound and injured.