Some families of kidnapped migrants paid ransoms, Mexico minister says | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
June 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
Some families of kidnapped migrants paid ransoms, Mexico minister says

World+Biz

Reuters
06 January, 2024, 05:55 pm
Last modified: 06 January, 2024, 05:58 pm

Related News

  • US Supreme Court lets Trump revoke humanitarian legal status for migrants
  • El Chapo's former lawyer and an ex-drug smuggler are on the ballot to be judges in Mexico
  • India says it has list of 2,300 Bangladeshi illegal migrants, asked Dhaka to verify their nationality
  • Migrants Council seeks stronger protections for abused returnees
  • Trump confirms he offered to send US troops to Mexico to help with cartels

Some families of kidnapped migrants paid ransoms, Mexico minister says

The migrants were abandoned by their kidnappers and rescued on Wednesday in the northern city of Reynosa in the state of Tamaulipas. Six of the migrants were from Honduras and 26 were Venezuelan, with three having dual nationality with Colombia, Mexico said

Reuters
06 January, 2024, 05:55 pm
Last modified: 06 January, 2024, 05:58 pm
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during his daily press conference, in Acapulco, Mexico 20 December, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during his daily press conference, in Acapulco, Mexico 20 December, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo

Some of the families of kidnapped Venezuelan and Honduran migrants paid ransoms to their abductors before the group was rescued this week, Mexico's security minister said on Friday.

The 32 migrants were kidnapped from a bus over the weekend by armed men aiming to extort money from them and their families in the United States.

"They took photos and in the early morning of December 31, the kidnappers called the families to ask for money. In some cases, deposits of a part of the required resource were made," Mexican Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said in a regular news conference. 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The migrants were abandoned by their kidnappers and rescued on Wednesday in the northern city of Reynosa in the state of Tamaulipas. Six of the migrants were from Honduras and 26 were Venezuelan, with three having dual nationality with Colombia, Mexico said.

During Friday's news conference, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected speculation that police had been involved in the kidnapping, saying the allegation that has circulated in local media was aimed at undermining the work of security forces. 

Migrants in Mexico frequently say they are extorted by local police and federal authorities as they head north toward the border.

One migrant who travelled the same bus route from Monterrey to Matamoros a week before the kidnapping told Reuters he and other migrants were extorted by police who threatened to hand them over to a cartel if they did not pay. Reuters was unable to verify his story.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Tamaulipas State Security spokesman Jorge Cuellar also rejected the idea that authorities were involved in the mass kidnapping, though he acknowledged there were occasional "isolated cases of bad police officers."

Lopez Obrador also said separately on Friday that he had asked U.S. authorities to grant visas to at least 10 million Hispanic migrants who have worked for more than 10 years in the country, and deploy $20 billion for a cooperation plan to help other countries in Latin America tame migration.

The requests were made during the last bilateral meeting in Mexico City, the president said.

A record number of migrants travelled across Central America and Mexico in 2023 to reach the United States, fleeing poverty, violence, climate change and conflict.

migrants / Mexico

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Firefighters work at the scene of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, on June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
    Israel hits Iran nuclear facilities, missile factories; Tehran vows revenge
  • A building stands damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Photo: Reuters
    Israel declares state of emergency: Defence ministry
  • Chief of Army Staff of Iran's armed forces Mohammad Bagheri. Photo: CNN
    Iran armed forces chief Bagheri killed in Israeli attack: State TV

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • Railway seeks Tk2,000cr foreign loans to revive coach assembly, modernise workshops
    Railway seeks Tk2,000cr foreign loans to revive coach assembly, modernise workshops
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts
  • Brother sues Latifur's daughter, widow over alleged forgery to seize control of Transcom
    Brother sues Latifur's daughter, widow over alleged forgery to seize control of Transcom

Related News

  • US Supreme Court lets Trump revoke humanitarian legal status for migrants
  • El Chapo's former lawyer and an ex-drug smuggler are on the ballot to be judges in Mexico
  • India says it has list of 2,300 Bangladeshi illegal migrants, asked Dhaka to verify their nationality
  • Migrants Council seeks stronger protections for abused returnees
  • Trump confirms he offered to send US troops to Mexico to help with cartels

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

2d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

5d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

15h | Podcast
What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

16h | TBS World
Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

17h | TBS Insight
Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

17h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net