Woman arrested in Chetumal phone extortion case
Original reporting: Noticaribe
What happened
Authorities say a Chetumal couple paid 12,000 pesos in a fake kidnapping scheme; Noticaribe also reports a separate Mérida valuables scam and other arrests.
Reporting and context
A woman suspected of helping inmates carry out a telephone extortion against a Chetumal couple was arrested in Mexico City on October 26, according to Noticaribe. Authorities say the couple paid 12,000 pesos after a caller pretended to be their kidnapped daughter.
Noticaribe reported that Quintana Roo southern-zone deputy prosecutor Estela Labastida announced María de Lourdes N's detention at the security cabinet's weekly briefing on November 3. Labastida said the calls came from Santa Marta Acatitla prison in Iztapalapa and that investigators believe the woman supplied phones to the inmates.
The callers initially demanded 100,000 pesos, then accepted 12,000 pesos deposited into two bank accounts. The couple reported the fraud after discovering the kidnapping claim was false. Mexico City authorities arrested María de Lourdes and handed her over to Quintana Roo prosecutors for an extortion case.
The same briefing covered a separate case involving William Renier N, a Venezuelan national arrested in Cancún on an aggravated-extortion accusation involving a couple from Mérida, Yucatán. Authorities allege that he posed as a legal adviser and told their driver, Roberto N, that the employers' house would be seized.
After a woman impersonated the owner on the telephone, the driver allegedly followed instructions to remove valuables before police arrived. He forced open a safe and took seven luxury watches, silver coins, centenario gold coins, cash and jewelry. Investigators believe William Renier arranged an app-based vehicle to collect the suitcase containing the valuables and received it. He was transferred to Yucatán authorities.
Noticaribe also summarized separate arrests involving an alleged disappearance in José María Morelos and homicide investigations in Cancún. Prosecutors accuse Elizabeth, known as “Plato” or “Tía,” of ordering Édgar Joel's disappearance after he left home on August 1. She was arrested October 30.
In another case, Eduardo, known as “Lalo,” was arrested in Mérida as the alleged organizer of Jesús's killing outside a bank on Avenida Guayacán. A prosecutor's office commander pursuing the attackers was struck by a car. Three other people were arrested over an October 28 killing in Cancún's Region 251; prosecutors link the group led by Ricardo N, known as “Garabato” or “Bocho,” to two earlier shootings.
Original reporting: Noticaribe.