Eleven young people were kidnapped in broad daylight from an after-hours bar in Mexico City's Zona Rosa, a district filled with restaurants, dance clubs and offices, the Associated Press reported. The mass abduction happened sometime between 10 a.m. and noon on Sunday, just off the city's main boulevard Paseo de la Reforma, near the Angel of Independence monument, about 1 ½ blocks from the U.S. Embassy.
The news of the abduction comes 20 days after the grandson of American civil rights activist Malcolm X was beaten to death at another tough bar in the downtown area.
"How could so many people have disappeared, just like that, in broad daylight?" said Josefina Garcia, mother of Said Sanchez Garcia, 19, her only son. "The police say they don't have them, so what, the earth just opened up and swallowed them?"
While city prosecutors said that they received 11 missing-person reports, residents in the neighborhood said that as many as 16 people could have been abducted, the AP also reported. The known missing include six men, most in their 20s, a 16-year-old and four young women.
Residents of Tepito said there has been a host of abductions of young people in recent months, which could be related to organized crime activities, as the area is also the epicenter for black market activities. Guns, stolen goods, contraband and drugs are rampant and widely sold in the area. Abductions are more common in parts of the country where drug cartels operate and are fighting with rival gangs.
Mexico City's chief prosecutor, Rodolfo Rios, said investigators had been able to gather very little information about the disappearances.
