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occur in the capital city as most of them go unreported, a combination of distrust in the local police and a fear of retribution by criminals. The United Nations estimates that nearly 90 per cent of all the cocaine sold in the United States is smuggled through Mexico, which is also the main foreign supplier of marijuana in America. With so much money at stake, it’s cheaper for cartels to bribe the police in the federal district than to lose their products in raids.
    Violent crimes are always a concern when drugs are involved, but most drug-related shootings take place in impoverished areas that are recognized as trouble zones. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about kidnappings. In Mexico City, they can happen at any time and in any place. And they happen with disturbing frequency. Last year, more than a thousand occurred in the metropolitan area, but experts believe that less than a quarter of all local kidnappings are reported. Assuming this is true, that’s an average of more than ten kidnappings a day in a single city.
    Ten abductions a day. Every day. In one city.
    Obviously, kidnappings are big business in this region. Tactics and techniques are practised on the street. Vehicles are painted to resemble taxis or police cars. Foreign phrases are learned, so criminals can make efficient demands from tourists. When the clock is ticking and weapons are involved, communication is vital, especially in the modern world of technology, where bank accounts are just sitting there, waiting to be exploited.
    Kidnappings are so frequent in Mexico City that they are classified by type. Locally, the most common form of abduction is known as a flash or express kidnapping. Most of these occur at night, and they usually last only a few hours. Normally, the goal of a flash kidnapping is to make as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time, which is why most of these abductions happen between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. Victims are taken to an ATM and forced to withdraw their maximum daily limit, whether that’s 100, 500, or 1,000 dollars. At midnight, bank computers reset their accounts for a new business day, which allows customers to make another maximum withdrawal at the same machine. If criminals time things right, they can double their take in less than five minutes.
    Unsurprisingly, banks in Mexico City are well aware of this problem. In order to fight back, many branches have imposed institutional limits on their ATMs, which prevent customers from withdrawing large amounts from their machines, even if customers haven’t reached their cash limits for the day. Of course, all this usually does is prolong the terror of flash-kidnapping victims, who are then forced to spend more time with their kidnappers as they’re driven from bank to bank, slowly but surely accumulating their maximum amount before they are forced to repeat the process again after midnight. Afterwards, victims are usually dropped off, penniless, scared and far from help of any kind. This gives criminals plenty of time to escape.
    In recent years, though, a new type of kidnapping has gained popularity in the region. Known as a virtual kidnapping, victims are called in the middle of the night and told a relative or close friend has been abducted. They are kept on the phone for several minutes, thus preventing them from calling the loved one in question to check the veracity of the claim. They are warned that if they hang up or fail to meet the kidnapper’s demands – which are usually for cash or jewellery – the loved one will be harmed or killed. Of course, even if they tried to call the supposed victim for verification, the line would be busy because the kidnapper’s partner would be running the same scam in reverse. For example, an elderly woman might think her daughter has been taken, while at the same time the daughter will think her mother has been abducted. These two are called at the exact same time, yet no one has actually been kidnapped.
    This