BELMOPAN, Belize, Mar 11, CMC -Three Belizean nationals are back in the country after they were held in Mexico in what Mexican law enforcement officials say had been a “virtual kidnapping”.
Sisters Yaire Mendez, 24, Jesslyn Mendez, 18 and and 25 year-old Marvin Rosales were reunited with their families following the ordeal that began with a call claiming a cartel had kidnapped them in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
The authorities in Mexico were alerted when a school official from the Instituto Tecnológico de Chetumal (ITCH) saw reports of the incident circulating online.
Mexican authorities contacted the Mendez family and warned that the case appeared to be a virtual extortion scheme.
“But we couldn’t run the risk. We don’t know anything from that side,” according to Joe Mendez, the girls’ father, adding that Belizean authorities were unable to render help.
“Yaire called me and told me, ‘Dad, I’m just calling you to inform you I am okay. My sister is okay. Marvin is okay, only to inform you that we are being taken by the cartel. According to them, they’re the cartel.”
He told News 5 television that minutes later, photos of the three appeared on his phone.
“I didn’t know how to respond or anything,” he said, adding that he received a phone call soon afterwards demanding money.
“He said if you want to see them alive again, you have to pay me 350,000 Pesos, (One Pesos-US$0.05 cents) or else by tomorrow they will be dead,” Mendez said, adding that “as a father, it’s like a bucket of cold water… I am a mechanic… I don’t have that amount of money. I can’t get that amount of money in the blink of an eye”.
At the same time, Rosales’ father also began negotiating with the caller, as the perpetrators had contacted him separately.
According to Mendez, the perpetrators appeared to have gained access to the victims’ phones and messaging platforms, including WhatsApp. He said his daughters were forced to remain on video calls with the scammers and were instructed to follow their directions while threats were made against them.
“They told her if she doesn’t do this or that, they will kill them because they have somebody that is out there watching them. They even told them, ‘I know where you are. I know what you have. I know everything that you are doing right now.’”
The Rosales and Mendez families were able to gather an amount of money, and by the time Mexican authorities had tracked the victims’ devices, the ransom payment had already been paid.
CMC/hf/r/2026