Cancun – Aeromexico Jet Hijacked, Flown To Mexico City

UPDATE: Aeromexico Flight 576: Mexican security forces have boarded the hijacked plane and taken 5-7 suspects into custody.
Cancun – Mexican Plane Reportedly Hijacked Flown To Mexico City.

All passengers have left an AeroMexico passenger plane that was hijacked at the airport in the resort area city of Cancun and flown to the airport in the capital of Mexico City.

The hijacked plane, a Boeing 737, landed safely and is on the runway at the airport, according to Mexico’s Transport Minister Juan Molinar. Mexican security forces are at the airport.

At least three men, reportedly of Bolivian citizenship, seized control of the plane and threatened to blow it up unless they were allowed to speak to Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon, according to Web sites El Universal and Reforma.

Local television reports said that there were explosives onboard the plane.

The plane was carrying 104 passengers and was bound for Mexico City, according to Mexican network, TV Azteca.

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Kidnapping Capital of the U.S.A. – Phoenix Arizona

Brian Ross and ABC News report what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave. Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone. But local authorities say Washington, DC is too obsessed with al Qaeda terrorists to care about what is happening in their own backyard right now.

“We’re in the eye of the storm,” Phoenix Police Chief Andy Anderson told ABC News of the violent crimes and ruthless tactics spurred by Mexico’s drug cartels that have expanded business across the border. “If it doesn’t stop here, if we’re not able to fix it here and get it turned around, it will go across the nation,” he said. Read more

US Anti-kidnapping Expert Kidnapped In Mexico

A U.S. anti-kidnapping expert was abducted by gunmen in northern Mexico last week, a sign of just how bold this nation’s kidnapping gangs have become.

U.S. security consultant Felix Batista was in Saltillo in Coahuila state to offer advice on how to confront abductions for ransom when he himself was seized, local authorities said.

Unknown assailants grabbed him on Dec. 10, said Charlie LeBlanc, the president of the Houston, Texas-based security firm ASI Global LLC., where Batista is a consultant.

“We have notified the FBI and Mexican authorities, and they are working on the case,” LeBlanc said Monday. “What we are doing is we’re offering our support to the family and hoping for the best.”

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said it would not comment on the case, and LeBlanc declined to say whether a ransom demand had been received.

LeBlanc said Batista had his own security business and that “he was in Mexico for business that wasn’t associated with our company.”

“Part of that could be or may involve negotiations with kidnappers,” Leblanc said. ASI Global’s Web site advertises “kidnap and ransom response” and says the company has worked for major insurance companies.

A woman who answered a phone number listed under Batista’s name in Miami, Florida said she did not wish to comment on the case.

Batista was frequently cited as an anti-kidnapping expert at conferences and in the press.

A story in the December issue of the trade magazine Security Management describes how Batista organized relatives’ response to a kidnapping in Mexico, even cooking the family at times. He advised the family during months-long negotiations that eventually reduced the ransom request to about a third of the original amount the kidnappers had demanded. The victim was eventually released.

Local media reported that Batista was 55 years old, but his age was not included on his professional profile.

via Source.