Mass Kidnap Suspected In Mexico After 11 People Vanish From Bar

Mexico City, Mexico — Authorities are investigating a possible mass kidnapping after 11 people were reportedly taken by gunmen from a bar in a popular downtown night spot.

The incident happened in the Zona Rosa district last Sunday. An official from the city’s prosecutor’s office added, “At first, it appeared that their goal was not to take the youths but to rob them. However, they took them in the end.”

Mexican media have said that the young people reportedly kidnapped last weekend came from the Mexican capital’s tougher Tepito neighborhood. The bar they were taken from typically stays open all night on weekends. The town is famous for its nightlife and entertainment.

Reforma newspaper added that the group’s relatives have said that the bar managers closed the bar at 10 am and told customers to leave, adding that there would be a police operation soon.

Once they were in the street, the 11 apparent kidnap victims were forced by armed men to climb into three sport-utility vehicles that appeared to have police insignia. Among those who disappeared was a minor and four women.

The apparent mass kidnapping was the second recent high-publicity issue for Mexico City’s largely unregulated nightclub scene. The kidnapping took place less than a month after Malcom X’s grandson was beaten to death at another bar renowned for tough patrons in the downtown area.

On Thursday, family members of the 11 missing marched from the Interior Department building to the city’s main square. They also protested outside the bar where the mass kidnapping took place and demanded to see surveillance video of the incident.

While there were 11 missing persons reports taken, residents of the neighborhood the victims came from explained that there may have been as many as 16 people abducted.

No clear motive has been revealed for the Mexico mass kidnapping. However, residents oft the neighborhood have reported a wave of abductions of young people in their area in recent months that could be related somehow to organized crime.

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