Mexican police rescue 42 people who were victims of mass kidnappings

A total of 24 adults and 18 children were rescued this Saturday by police and armed forces after being detained for several hours by criminal groups in northwest Mexico.

The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, announced on his X social network account, formerly known as Twitter, that the number of people released rose to 42 of a total of 66 kidnapped.

Rocha indicated that the authorities are still maintaining an intense operation, in which police and military forces are collaborating to locate the remaining 24 people.

En seguimiento a los hechos ocurridos en Culiacán, les informo que en total, presuntamente fueron privadas de su libertad 66 personas, según reporte o denuncia presentada. De las cuales a este momento se han localizado 42 (24 adultos, 18 niñas y niños) gracias al operativo de…

— Rubén Rocha Moya (@rochamoya_) March 23, 2024

The mass kidnapping occurred on Friday in different areas of the La Noria region, on the outskirts of the capital of Sinaloa, Culiacán. Members of criminal groups took at least three families hostage, said state Public Security Secretary Gerardo Mérida.

Federal authorities sent two battalions made up of 600 elements to Sinaloa to search for the missing. Another 300 soldiers and a National Guard battalion are also operating in the area.

It has not yet been reported who the perpetrators of the kidnappings are or if arrests have already been made.

The mass kidnapping occurred one day after the murder of three people, who were burned and two of them had their throats slit, in the Badiraguato mountain range, allegedly by members of criminal groups.

Culiacán and other cities in the state have been the scene of violent incidents in recent years, with murders at the hands of members of the Sinaloa cartel.