![Mexican village frees gang leader's mom in kidnap deal](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/12/_2/740x404/pic_1481788096.jpg)
Mexican Village Frees Gang Leader's Mom In Kidnap Deal
Fakhir Rizvi Published December 15, 2016 | 11:05 AM
![Mexican village frees gang leader's mom in kidnap deal](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/12/_2/740x404/pic_1481788096.jpg)
MEXICO CITY, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Dec, 2016 ) : Residents of a southern Mexican town managed to force a fearsome gang to free a man on Wednesday after villagers brazenly abducted the mother of the criminal group's leader.
The unusual standoff was resolved with both sides releasing their captives in Guerrero, a state mired in drug violence and kidnappings that often end with the victims turning up dead or never reappearing.
The gang known as Los Tequileros (The Tequila Drinkers) has made a business out of kidnapping people in a remote region of Guerrero, but fed-up townspeople in San Miguel Totolapan rebelled after an engineer was snatched on Sunday.
The residents formed a vigilante group and detained around 20 people, including the mother of Raybel Jacobo de Almonte, the head of Los Tequileros who is himself known as "El Tequilero" (The Tequila Drinker).
The engineer's wife appeared in a video on Tuesday, demanding that Almonte release her husband "safe and sound" in return for the gang leader's mother. The residents upped the ante on Wednesday, releasing a video showing a woman identified as Almonte's elderly mother, Maria Felix de Almonte Salgado, who pleaded with her son to release the engineer, Isauro de Paz Duque.
"Son, if you have (De Paz), hand him over, please. If you have him, I know that you are going to hand him over. Do it, please," said the mother, stone-faced and sitting in a room without her hands tied.
After De Paz was reunited with his family, the residents released Almonte's mother to police, the state government said in a statement.
The residents were still holding 19 people they accuse of colluding with Los Tequileros but the government said it expects them to be released to the police "in the coming hours." - 'Satisfying' - ================ Some 220 soldiers and police were deployed to San Miguel Totolapan this week to avoid a confrontation and the government said the security forced were still in the area.
"It is satisfying to inform that the engineer Isauro de Paz Duque, who was kidnapped, is now with his family," Governor Hector Astudillo wrote on Twitter. A video has circulated on YouTube showing the vigilantes carrying weapons and explaining that they took up arms in response to crimes committed by Los Tequileros.
"They have humiliated us. They have killed our families and we won't let it happen again," one of the vigilantes says. Guerrero has endured years of violence linked to turf wars between drug cartels fighting for control of the state's opium poppy and heroin production areas.
Farmers and villagers in Guerrero and the neighboring state of Michoacan formed vigilante groups in recent years to combat crime in their towns. Fed up with police incompetence or unwillingness to act, the self-defense groups have detained criminal suspects in the past, but kidnapping a gang leader's mother is unheard of.
The emergence of such citizen militias have raised concerns that they could be infiltrated by drug cartels and fuel more violence.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
![Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019914.jpg)
Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard
![Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on refor ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019922.jpg)
Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on reform agenda, engagement with IMF
![Finland says Russian vessel violated its territori ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019912.jpg)
Finland says Russian vessel violated its territorial waters
![Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019266.jpg)
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
![West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019264.jpg)
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
![Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murde ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019262.jpg)
Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murder of nationalist ex-MP
![Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris ope ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019015.jpg)
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
![Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inau ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019638.jpg)
Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inauguration reception
![Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Z ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019637.jpg)
Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Zardari at Governor's House
![Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019635.jpg)
Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympic coach sent home: official
![Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019013.jpg)
Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fighting against SL
!['Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019634.jpg)
'Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: What we know
More Stories From World
-
Biden talks Gaza ceasefire efforts with king of Jordan
4 hours ago -
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
4 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked ex-presidents going to observe polls
4 hours ago -
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
5 hours ago -
Khan Yunis fighting displaces 180,000 Gazans in four days: UN
5 hours ago -
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
5 hours ago
-
Obama & his wife, Michelle, officially endorse US VP Kamala Harris for president
5 hours ago -
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
5 hours ago -
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
5 hours ago -
S.African police detain 95 Libyans at suspected military camp
5 hours ago -
'Slapping therapist' guilty over UK diabetic woman's death
6 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked flight of ex-presidents going to observe polls
6 hours ago