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Alan Pulido Rescued: Kidnapped Mexican Soccer Star Freed From His Captors In Police Raid

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 04:35 PST, May 30, 2016

Mexican soccer star Alan Pulido has been rescued with only a minor injury, although details of his rescue are scarce as of this writing.

As MSN reports, Pulido appeared at a press conference Monday morning to say that he was “fine.” A bandage on his right hand seemed to indicate that he had suffered some type of minor injury before, during, or after his ordeal, although neither Pulido nor Mexican authorities are discussing what his injury is or how he might have sustained it.

Appearing with Tamaulipas Governor Egidio Torre Cantu Monday morning, Pulido would only say that he was “very well, thank God” before being driven away. Similarly, Cantu was circumspect in describing what may or may not have happened to Pulido, focusing instead on the fact that he has been rescued.

“The most important thing is that he is here. He is with us.”

Mexican police are also being tight-lipped about Pulido’s rescue, confirming only that he had been kidnapped, and that he was rescued shortly before midnight Sunday. He was taken without incident, says Mexican Federal Police Commissioner Enrique Galindo, and his kidnappers were not paid a ransom.

“It was a kidnapping. A ransom was not paid.”

Tamaulipas State police spokesman Evaristo Gutierrez said only that there was one arrest made during Pulido’s rescue, but declined to give any more information.

In a statement, Pulido’s team, the Greek squad Olympiakos, also confirmed that Pulido was safe and sound.

“Alan is safe and sound with his family. We thank everyone for their concern and prayers during the difficult moments he has lived.”

The 25-year-old Pulido was partying in his home town of Ciudad Victoria early Sunday morning. After leaving a party, according to the L.A. Times, armed assailants surrounded Pulido and took him hostage. His girlfriend, who was with him at the time, was not taken.

After news of his kidnapping went public, fans of the young soccer star took to social media to offer their condolences to his family and to offer prayers and wishes for his safe return.

Pulido’s kidnapping came a week before elections in the crime-ridden Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which borders southern Texas. As both the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels battle for control of the region, Mexicans find themselves in the crossfire as both sides use kidnapping and extortion as money-making schemes.

In fact, so common is kidnapping in Mexico, according to a 2014 Washington Post report, that both the wealthy and regular Mexicans alike are at risk. Criminal gangs see kidnapping for ransom as a way to make money, and while the wealthy can afford armed bodyguards and live behind gated communities, Mexico’s working-class people don’t have that option, according Isabel Miranda de Wallace, an anti-kidnapping activist in Mexico.

“The phenomenon has changed. Now it’s the workers, the people in the informal economy, because they are the ones who have access to money quickly. We have never seen as many kidnappings as we are seeing now.”

In 2013, Mexico recorded 1,698 kidnappings; that’s the official number, anyway. The actual number may be considerably higher — as much as ten times higher — as many kidnapping victims do not report their ordeals to the police, and often the police themselves are involved in kidnappings.

This is a developing story; more information about Alan Pulido’s kidnapping and rescue will be provided as it becomes available.

[Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

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