Detectives with an anti-kidnapping unit arrested three people for the crime of extortion on March 22 in the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City last Tuesday. The arrested, Inocencio Joaquín Anaya, Montserrat Castillo Vizcaya and Soledad Virginia Castillo Vizcaya, are accused of the crime of extortion.
According to police, the three were involved in a phony kidnapping scheme, in which they would call victims’ houses and pretend to have kidnapped their relatives.
“They would order the victims not to hang up the phone, while imitating the voices of their loved ones,” explained anti-kidnapping prosecutor Guillermo Terán Pulido. “The victims would then pay a ransom, only to discover that their relatives had not been kidnapped in the first place.”
“They would order the victims not to hang up the phone, while imitating the voices of their loved ones. The victims would then pay a ransom, only to discover that their relatives had not been kidnapped in the first place.”
Guillermo Terán Pulido, anti-kidnapping prosecutor.
Mexico City police received the first complaint in December of 2014, and noted that money had been deposited to the account of Inocencio Joaquín Anaya. Other victims deposited money to the account of Montserrat Castillo Vizcaya.
“Anaya and Vizcaya told police that Virginia had convinced them to let her use their accounts, for which she offered them 10 percent of the proceeds.”
Police say that the extortionists arrested today are partners of Jesús Enrique Carrillo Zaragoza, who is detained in the Reclusorio Oriente.
The arrested may be charged with extortion, which is punishable by six to 21 years in prison. Anaya is detained in the Reclusorio Norte, and the two women are detained in the Reclusorio Feminil Santa Martha Acatitla in Tepepan.
THE NEWS