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International Kidnapping as a Business Essay

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Summary: 5 pages. 7 sources. APA format.
International kidnappings are on the rise and have become one of the fastest growing ‘industries’ in the world. This paper looks at kidnapping as a thriving business.

International Kidnapping as a Business

Introduction
The kidnapping and ransom of individuals for profit has dramatically increased in the past decade throughout the world. While the majority of victims are wealthy businessmen, more recently, the average tourist has become a target for kidnappers looking for monetary and material gain. In recent years, kidnappers have also become more organized and are demanding more money for the safe return of hostages.
Why has international kidnapping been on the increase? The simple answer is …show more content…

"It's strictly a business for the experienced groups in Latin America; they don't want to harm the victim," said Chris Marquet who heads the risk assessment division of Kroll Associates, a leading international security firm. "You play the game, the guy's going to come back." (Wall, 1997, para.5).
Colombia is not the only country to be plagued with this increase in kidnappings for profit. Ransom kidnappings are becoming more common in Mexico, Central America, Brazil, Chechnya, the Philippines, Haiti, and many other developing countries throughout the world (Williams, 2001, para.13).
A dramatic account of the increase in global abductions can be found in Ransom: The Untold Story of International Kidnapping by Ann Hagedorn Auerbach (1998). This book focuses on kidnappings that took place throughout the world between 1995 and 1997. Auerbach's writes of kidnappings that occurred in places like Kashmir, Papua New Guinea, and others. And, again, although many kidnappings are politically motivated, Auerbach asserts that a growing number are simply fund-raising exercises by guerrillas or common criminals (1998). For example, when a new rebel group, the Popular Revolutionary Army, surfaced in Mexico in 1996, experts concluded that the group financed itself through kidnappings carried out over the previous two years.
Auerbach emphasizes that one of the causes of the worldwide increase in kidnappings for profit is that billions of dollars in foreign

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