Modus Operandi by Mauro Corvasce (universal ebook reader txt) 📕

kidnapping, they will drive the vehicle to a remote location and report it stolen. The victim is driven to a safehouse, maybe the basement of a gang member's house, where chances of being discovered are minimal.

Money is only one type of ransom. In organized crime kidnappings, the ransom is often control over a situation such as not giving testimony, signing over property or control of a business, and agreeing to do their bidding, which may include buying or shipping products from the kidnappers. If the demands are met, the victim will be returned to his family. If not, there is a good possibility that he will end up dead.

Ransom demands could be made through a number of different routes. It could be as simple as using a pay phone to call a newspaper or the victim's family and make the demands. When using a pay phone, it is a good idea to use a different phone each time a call is made to prevent a trace and subsequent surveillance of the area. Other methods of delivering demands are by U.S. mail using hand-written letters from the victim or the notorious letters made of words cut from newspapers or magazines. In some circumstances, a typewriter may be used for the letter.

Asian Gangs

Asian gangs perform their kidnappings in a very flamboyant way because their main purpose is to terrorize their victims. A common scenario: The gang enters a restaurant where the victim's family is having dinner, and at gun point removes the victim from the premises. Or, they kidnap a family member at home as he arrives from work. Family members are often assaulted and, if enough resistance is given, a family member may even be shot. The victim will be bound and gagged with rope, duct tape or handcuffs, placed into the rear of a van or the trunk of a vehicle and transported to an apartment or warehouse.

The ransom demands will be given at the scene and little or no communication will occur between the kidnappers and the victim's family. Once the demands are met, the victim may or may not be released to his family. Ransom will most likely be for control over a business, for protection money, money laundering or to silence a witness.

Another method may be to have a family member who is still living in their country of origin receive threats of death or incarceration if the family members in the United States do not cooperate.

Drug Lords

Leaders of narcotic trafficking gangs find kidnapping a useful tool in conducting business. They target judges to throw a monkeywrench into prosecution efforts or political leaders to suppress additional laws against narcotic trafficking. Narcotic traffickers usually do not seek money because they make substantial money from their narcotics trafficking. When a government official refuses a bribe, the drug lords attempt to gain control over them by kidnapping. When all efforts fail, they are generally murdered.

Drug lords differ from other organized crime leaders because they have extraordinary power over their communi-

ties. This power comes from supplying employment and other basic needs for their communities especially in developing countries. These needs can include education, medical care, housing and transportation. This power not only protects the drug lords, but assists them in hiding their victims.

The drug lord will assign members of his organization to kidnap a victim at his residence. The victim could be a family member or the official himself. Once in control of the victim, the demands will be given to him and he will be released. The victim knows that the drug lords mean business, and since they kidnapped him once, they can easily do it again.

Ransom Seekers

The ransom seeker chooses his target for the express purpose of making money. Surveillance is conducted and a plan is formulated, including methods of restraint and transportation, time and location of the kidnapping. The time and location are picked to minimize the possibility of outside interference. A location, which has no connection to the kidnappers, is picked to house the victim. The kidnappers use disguises or masks to cover their faces, wear gloves, and travel in stolen vehicles.

Once the kidnapping is performed, the victim will remain at one location, and the kidnappers make their ransom demands either through the mail or at various pay telephones. If it is through the mail, the correspondence may be cut and pasted, typewritten or handwritten. Delivery instructions are given once the kidnappers know the victim's family will pay the ransom. No matter how much pre-planning was involved, someone physically has to pick up the money and return to a location, making apprehension almost certain. Kidnappers, in an attempt to elude apprehension, will demand that the pick-up man return safely before the victim is released. The pick-up man will not return to where the victim is located, but instead will travel to a location where he feels that no one has followed him.

In some cases, victims, instead of being returned to their families, are found dead. This is because of an unexpected event like a medical condition or an escape attempt which fatally injures the victim. From time to time poor directions to the victim's location cause a delay in finding him, and the victim dies from exposure or the binding the kidnapper used to restrain him.

Once a person is kidnapped and the ransom demand is made, a charge of extortion can also be levied against the kidnapper. Extortion is the threat of harm for the purpose of obtaining property (in this case, a person's money).

Cults

Fanatic religious cults kidnap by seeking out potential members. These victims come from all walks of life, but they all have a desire to belong. Cult members slowly seduce their victims with promises of happiness and spiritual fulfillment. This procedure is time-consuming and is carried out over an extended period of time. Eventually, victims are asked to attend a series of lectures or meetings where the brainwashing begins. These meetings are choreographed in such away that the leader appears to be a deity,