This Was The Kidnapping Of Sandra Ávila Beltrán’s Son, The ‘Queen Of The Pacific’: How Much Did She Pay For His Rescue?

Mica for cartelinsider.com

The lives of those who dedicate themselves to drug trafficking are marked by a large number of experiences that would be difficult to forget for anyone. However, some situations are usually more remembered than others, especially when their survival or that of their loved ones is at stake. Such is the case of Sandra Ávila Beltrán, better known as the ‘Queen of the Pacific’, who made it clear on more than one occasion that she will never be able to forget the kidnapping of her only son.

The events took place on April 18, 2002. According to the journalistic reports from that date, José Luis Fuentes Ávila, son of the renowned drug trafficker, was at a gym in the residential area where he lived when hooded and armed men stormed the place and took him captive.

At that time, few details were revealed about the incident, such as the fact that, in their desperation, Ávila Beltrán went to file a report with the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office.

It was also known that the kidnappers of Fuentes Ávila, who was 15 years old at the time, had demanded a ransom of 5 million dollars for his release, which is approximately 47.5 million Mexican pesos according to the exchange rate of that year (1 dollar = 9.50 Mexican pesos).

Years later, while she was imprisoned in Santa Martha Acatitla penitentiary, the ‘Queen of the Pacific’ recounted to journalist Julio Scherer García in more detail how her son’s kidnapping took place and how much she finally paid for his release.

In his book ‘The Queen of the Pacific: it’s time to tell’, Scherer revealed that Ávila Beltrán didn’t know the reason behind her son’s kidnapping, as she claimed she didn’t owe anyone anything. Her anguish lasted for 18 days.

“I will not take responsibility for my son’s kidnapping. People in my service connected to the outside were involved in the crime. It was 18 days, 18. They didn’t touch my son, but the consequences were like a shock. He was a young boy, almost a child,” the founder of Proceso recounted shortly after his arrest, which took place in February 2007.

According to her statement, the ‘Queen of the Pacific’ was in Mexico City when the events occurred. Upon finding out, she immediately took a flight to Guadalajara and met with her mother in that state.

“The kidnapping happened at 6 pm. At midnight, the abductors demanded 5 million dollars for the life of my son. They said it was nothing personal, just business. And if it was about money, I could get it and have my child back,” he remembered.

In his work, Scherer pointed out that Ávila Beltrán confirmed that her brother was responsible for getting the money to negotiate the ransom. The drug trafficker also stated that, after negotiating, the ransom was agreed upon at 1.5 million dollars (14.25 million Mexican pesos).

However, some media sources indicate that the rescue actually amounted to 3 million dollars.

“After the negotiations, which were brutal in themselves, my brother took care of it. He followed the instructions in a car by using his cell phone. The road to Chapala was the starting point,” Scherer recounted.

At 6:00 am on May 5, 2002, Ávila Beltrán received a phone call: her son was at his mother’s house, where he had arrived alone in a taxi.

My son told us that when they took him, they hadn’t hit him. Six armed people lifted him up. (…) They never took off the blindfold and my son never tried to see them. I would have prayed for him not to see them because of those stories that are told: whoever sees them, loses their life,” he added.

Thanks for reading!

Mica

Email: mica@cartelinsider.com

Follow: https://twitter.com/cartelinsider1