Delorean involved in 'virtual kidnapping' in Mexico

-

Following the disturbing news that Spanish band, Delorean were being held captive in Mexico City, local paper El País reports that the band are safe and victims of a “virtual kidnapping.”

In town to play the local edition of Montreal’s MUTEK festival, the band were last seen Sunday (6 October) at the Colonia Roma district’s Four Points hotel. Police sources report that band’s family members were contacted by an unidentified caller, claiming that the band was being held captive and demanding an unspecified ransom.

Now, police are claiming that the band and their families are victims of a type of extortion – ‘virtual’ kidnapping, which involves tricking people into paying ransoms for loved ones who are not really at harm.

“They call the victims and tell them that if they don’t hole up in their hotel, for instance, that they’ll hurt them”, says Samuel González, explaining the phenomenon to El País: “They tell them to turn off their mobile phone, and then they call their families to say that they’ve been kidnapped. It’s a trick, but it works.”

Although the whereabouts of the band and their movements since Sunday are still unknown, Spanish police have confirmed that the men are “in good shape and at liberty.”

Nonetheless, fellow Spanish musicians John Talabot and Pional have announced that they are cutting their Mexican tour short for security reasons.

UPDATE: The band have releasing the following statement on the ordeal.

“On Monday morning October 7th we received a phone call at our hotel room in Mexico City from a person posing as a hotel security officer. We were informed that there was a security threat at the hotel.

What followed for the next 30 hours was an experience where the threat of death was real due to the psychological manipulation inflicted on us by our kidnappers. Thanks to the fantastic work of the National Police in Spain, Ertzantza , Interpol and the Federal Police in Mexico, we were successfully rescued yesterday morning.

While it would be convenient to blame Mexico, that would not be sound. This could have occurred anywhere in the world. Our hope is that this situation will bring attention to the abuse that we were subjected to by our kidnappers, so that other travelers do not fall victim in the future.

This has been extremely difficult for us and our families. At this time we have no further comment and we ask that you respect our privacy so that we can return to normality in our lives.”