AMCIT ANTI-KIDNAPPING EXPERT KIDNAPPED IN COAHUILA STATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000565 SIPDIS CONFIDENTIAL: FOREIGN GOVERNMENT INFORMATION E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2018 TAGS: KCRM CASC ASEC SNAR PGOV MX SUBJECT: AMCIT ANTI-KIDNAPPING EXPERT KIDNAPPED IN COAHUILA STATE REF: MONTERREY 390 MONTERREY 00000565 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Bruce Williamson, Consul General, Monterrey, State. REASON: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C ) Summary. On December 10, Felix Batista, an American citizen, disappeared (apparently kidnapped) in Saltillo, Coahuila and has remained missing ever since. Batista is an anti-kidnapping expert and had given several anti-kidnapping presentations to the business community while in Saltillo. At the time of his abduction, he was apparently working for the release of a hostage. The Consul General, A/Legatt, and RSO have met with law enforcement authorities in Coahuila to track progress on this case. Coahuila officials believe that Batista was taken by the Zetas, the long time enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel which has now established independent operations throughout northeastern Mexico. A/Legat and other Consulate law enforcement agencies are aggressively seeking information which might be of use in locating Batista's whereabouts. However, given the ruthless nature of the Zetas, as the days go by we grow less optimistic that he will be released unharmed. End Summary. Basic Facts ¶2. (SBU) Batista, a specialist in anti kidnapping issues and a former U.S. army major, is responsible for Latin America for the ASI Global security consulting group. Batista traveled to Saltillo, a large industrial town an hour to the west of Monterrey, for personal reasons, but while there he met the Coahuila State Secretary for Public Security Fausto Destenave through an introduction by Destenave's sister. Secretary Destenave arranged for Batista to give two presentations on anti-kidnapping strategies to Saltillo businessmen. Pilar Valdez, a friend and colleague of Batista and himself the former chief of security for one of Saltillo's major industrial firms, was kidnapped the morning of December 10, and Batista was working to help obtain Valdez's release. The press and Coahuila government officials report that Batista was at a local restaurant on December 10 with Valdez's son, when he received a call on his cell phone. Batista left his other cell phone, credit card, his laptop, and documents in the restaurant, and gave a number for his dinner companions to call if he did not return. Witnesses reported that Batista went outside, was met by four men in a vehicle, and without coercion entered into the car and has not been seen since. There has not been any ransom demand or communication from the group who took him. Valdez was released an hour after Batista was taken. Tepid Investigation of a Missing Persons Case ¶3. ( C) The Coahuila state Attorney General's office is pursuing the matter as a missing person case. Under Mexican law, a kidnapping requires that a ransom demand be made. A lesser crime is a "levanton," which often occurs when drug cartels kidnap someone to force them to pay their drug debts or abduct a member of a rival drug gang. However, a levanton legally requires that the victim been taken by force. (In terms of seriousness, a levanton is similar to the crime of deprivation of liberty in the U.S.) In this case, since Batista reportedly voluntarily entered the car, the attorney general is treating the issue as a missing person case, although he assured Consulate officials that this has not hindered their investigation. ¶4. (C ) The players in this case and the real motives behind the kidnapping are murky. Coahuila officials believe that Batista was taken by the Zetas, the long time enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel which has now established independent operations throughout northeastern Mexico. As it appears that the kidnappings of Valdez and Batista were related, Valdez may have been taken to get to his friend Batista. One theory is that Batista was using Valdez as a conduit to pass information on drug cartels to the authorities. ¶5. (C) Another theory is that there are two separate industries, drug trafficking and kidnapping, and Batista got into trouble when he included background information on the extent of cartel influence in his anti-kidnapping presentation. Coahuila law enforcement officials recovered Batista's power point presentation, including detailed slides on the drug cartel territory, bosses, and trafficking routes. Although this information was available through public sources, it could have been seen as a threat to a cartel. Less likely, but still possible, is that it could be that the Batista abduction was intended to send a message to Saltillo civil society - i.e., no one is safe from kidnapping and security consultants can't help you. Although Coahuila law enforcement authorities do not see Saltillo as a kidnap hotspot, local businessmen clearly feel differently. Indeed, on the evening of December 9, the day MONTERREY 00000565 002.2 OF 002 before the Batista abduction, two prominent Saltillo industrial leaders told the Consul General that the security situation there was worsening. Other Saltillo businessmen have previously made clear their intention to seek residence in safer cities in the U.S. And while Coahuila Governor Moreira has recently request that the national Chamber of Deputies amend the Mexican constitution to allow the death penalty for kidnappers, the Saltillo press has relished pointing out that the permitting the imposition of the death penalty will have little practical meaning if the authorities can't apprehend those who commit such crimes. ¶6. (C) Based on our meetings with both, the distrust and lack of communication between the State Secretary of Public Security Destenave and state attorney general Jesus Torres Charles is striking and does not bode well for a positive resolution of the case. Post officials first met with Secretary Destenave, who showed several restaurant security videotapes of Batista both inside and outside the premises, As under Mexican law Destenave's office has no responsibility for investigating the crime, he asked Consulate officers to press Attorney General Torres on certain evidentiary issues. The two offices apparently distrust each other and do not communicate. In contrast, the attorney general's office, which has actual responsibility for investigating the crime, provided us with a slim file folder summarizing evidence, although it did promise later access to all the evidence - except for key informal statements made by kidnap victim Pilar Valdez. According to Torres, Valdez remains fearful and naming him as a witness could put his life in danger. ¶7. (C) The attorney general's office assured us that they would continue to investigate the case, but our reading is that most likely they would do little more. Most levantones are never solved and in this case, the drug cartels have likely made clear to Torres that that is the preferred result here as well. Torres pointedly observed that the license plates on the vehicle which Batista entered were from another car so that his office's ability to track that vehicle is minimal. Post officials have enjoyed much better cooperation with the Secretary of Public Security, although it could well be that he sees this as a chance put pressure on his bureaucratic rival. Prognosis for Batista's release ¶8. (C ) Batista has now been missing for more than a week, and each day that he is held captive reduces the chances that he will be released. While there were rumors that he would be released shortly after his abduction and later rumors that he would be freed over the December 13-14 weekend, this has not occurred and Charles now does not think that it will. Nor have Batista's captors made any ransom demands. In many levanton cases, the cartels kill the victim, destroy the body in an acid bath or dispose of it in the enormous desert. We have little confidence that the Coahuila's attorney general's office will aggressively pursue the case. Indeed, attorney general Torres appears to be the source of innumerable leaks in this case which have fueled press stories not only in the leading Monterrey daily "El Norte" but in the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN as well. ¶9. (C) Nevertheless, A/Legat and other Consulate law enforcement agencies are aggressively seeking information which might be of use in locating Batista's whereabouts. Specifically, in an attempt to recover Batista, or his remains, Consulate Monterrey law enforcement agencies will proceed expeditiously to provide Mexican federal counterparts with intel packages regarding properties owned and/or operated by the Zetas in Coahuila for host government law enforcement action. In addition, the A/Legatt will continue to pursue all avenues to obtain access to Pilar Valdez for an interview on the circumstances surrounding his abduction and release, presumably the same subjects responsible for Batista's disappearance. ¶10. (C) Comment. Although many facts of the Batista case are unclear, it is clear that the state authorities are institutionally dysfunctional. It is not clear if this case will affect the safety of the typical American businessman traveling to Saltillo, but the rules of the game - i.e., hands-off Amcits -- do appear to have changed as the kidnappers targeted Batista despite likely knowing that he was an American citizen. End Comment. WILLIAMSONB