Mysterious kidnapping raises fear in Mexico City

MCT Information Services/Mexico City

The Mexican capital has managed to avoid the kind of gangland violence that has gripped many other parts of the country in recent years. But the mysterious disappearance of 11 young people from a bar last week is raising new fears about the city’s ability to remain relatively immune from the trouble.

The disappearance of the patrons in the Zona Rosa, a nightclub-packed neighbourhood just blocks from the American embassy, has made national headlines and dominated TV news here.

It was not exactly clear what happened to them. Were the missing really whisked away by armed, masked men in SUVs?

That is the version of events promulgated by parents and other family who blocked streets and gathered in Mexico City’s central square to raise awareness of their loved ones’ plight. But city officials so far say they have been unable to corroborate the story.

If true, it would prove to be a rare occurrence in the capital of what Mexicans call a levanton _ a mass kidnapping, often perpetrated by criminals pretending to be police, that is all too common in those Mexican states overrun by drug cartel violence.

It would also be another high-profile blow to Mexico City’s reputation as a relatively safe haven: On May 9, Malcolm X’s grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, was slain in a nightclub near Plaza Garibaldi, the mariachi gathering spot popular with tourists.

Prosecutors say the missing consist of four young women, six young men and a 16-year-old boy. The family members say that the 11 were all partying in the bar Sunday morning about 10am, when they were encouraged to step outside by the bar’s workers, who told them that the police had arrived. From there, the families believe, the purported victims were stuffed into SUVs by masked men.

The family members apparently learned this version of events from a patron who escaped to the roof and claims to have seen the armed men abducting the victims.

Edmundo Garrido, a Mexico City deputy prosecutor, said in a radio interview that investigators had a “preliminary contact” with the witness but were now searching for him.

“We have the name, we’re looking, we haven’t found him at his house,” Garrido said.

Local and federal officials insisted that no police action was planned for the area at the time of the reported disappearance.