Mexican media raises questions of conspiracy in kidnapping case

Mexico and Olympiakos striker Alan Pulido's kidnapping and subsequent release has raised many questions among media outlets in Mexico as local authorities arrested Pulido's cousin's husband for allegedly masterminding the kidnapping.

Mexican striker Alan Pulido, left, stands next to Tamaulipas State Gov. Egidio Torre Cantu. Source: AP

Yesterday local authorities said Pulido was "safe and sound" and paraded him in front of the media after, they claimed, was a successful operation to free the six-time Mexican international. 

The authorities insisted that the 25 year-old had been abducted at gunpoint on Saturday night, local time, in his home town of Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas state.

Tamaulipas is one of Mexico's most violent states, and Mexico has one of the world's highest kidnapping rates in the world with over 1,000 kidnappings a year according to government statistics, while others argue the number could be ten times as much. 

The BBC reported that as he left a party with his girlfriend, his car was surrounded by other vehicles before masked men took him away, leaving his girlfriend unharmed in the car park where the incident took place.

State prosecutor Ismael Quintanilla told journalists that Pulido's family received a phone call on Sunday demanding a ransom payment, however it is not known how the family reacted. 

Officials reported that Pulido managed to over-power his captors, steal one of their phones and contact police.

"(I am) very well, thank God," Pulido said with a bandaged hand.

Police denied earlier reports that Pulido had shot his captor or anyone else for that matter. 

However the incredible and seemingly evolving details of this case have been questioned by many in the Mexican media. 

Reforma, one of Mexico's most respected outlets, said there were numerous strange inconsistencies in the story including why Pulido supposedly grabbed one of the captors gun "knowing the others (captors) can kill you". It also seemed perplexed as to why a second captor reportedly fled at some stage leaving his weapons that included a machine rifle.

Other issues raised included why Pulido's girlfriend was immediately let go, why Pulido was dressed in shorts and a singlet even though he was supposedly leaving a nightclub, why Pulido was allowed to move around while being held hostage and how Pulido was able to inform police of his location when almost all kidnappers in Mexico immediately blindfold their victim so they are unable to identify the location they are held in. 

The timing of this story has raised many eyebrows as local elections are scheduled for next Saturday. 

La Opinion, another Mexican outlet that focuses more on opinion, indicating that the current Tamaulipas governor Egidio Torre, who is running for re-election, cannot enter the United States after Interpol highlighted his connections to drug cartels.