Nogales, Mexico Casino Kidnapping of 3 Has Brutal End

Posted on: June 10, 2022, 05:30h. 

Last updated on: June 10, 2022, 11:52h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

An otherwise routine night at a local casino turned ugly Thursday for two women and a man in Nogales, Mexico. Unidentified subjects kidnapped the three, and the tale turns gruesome from there.

Nogales, Mexico
The border between Nogales, Mexico, and Nogales, Arizona. The Mexican city continues to deal with high crime, including kidnapping three people as they left a casino Thursday. (Image: Arizona Daily Star)

The incident occurred as the three were when leaving a casino in the El Greco neighborhood of Nogales. Two individuals approached them, one with a gun and another with a knife. The suspects then forced them into their vehicle, a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe.

A few blocks away, on Pirgos Street, the kidnappers told the victims to get out of the vehicle. This is only a few meters from the US Consulate in the border city. The chain of events already unraveling, things then took an unexpected turn.

Left for Dead

For reasons that still aren’t clear, as the women were following the orders, the perpetrator with the gun suddenly discharged his weapon. He hit one of the women, who succumbed to her injuries and died.

The proximity to the consulate caused a response, despite the incident occurring at 4 AM. When individuals went to investigate, they found the lifeless body of the victim and the other woman in shock from the ordeal.

The woman began to provide details of how everything had happened. She gave limited details of the perpetrators, adding that the shot that took her friend’s life may have been an accidental discharge.

Hours later, the vehicle in question was engulfed in flames south of Nogales, in a lot between the Monarcas and Bellotas subdivisions. The man, however, was nowhere to be found.

The case is still developing, and police are trying to put all the pieces together. They don’t know if this was a targeted attack as a form of revenge or if it was for money.

Crime Common in Nogales

Nogales is in the state of Sonora, one of the most dangerous places in Mexico. Violent crime increased 46.4% in 2020, according to the Mexico Peace Index. From the looks of things, it’s only getting worse.

This past Wednesday, unidentified assailants got away with murder when they killed a police officer. Media outlets report him as Magdiel Ara Chan, who was off duty at the time.

At around 1:40 AM Wednesday, police stopped to investigate a person lying in the street outside a local bar. They determined that he had been shot in the chest and left for dead before realizing he was one of their own.

On the same day as the kidnapping, in the Sonoran city of Empalme, armed men carried out the execution of an unidentified person in broad daylight. Locals reported hearing a burst of high-powered weapons. When they investigated, they found the young man’s lifeless body in an alley.

Sonora isn’t the only home to violent crime in Mexico. An investigation is underway following the discovery of seven bodies in the municipality of Aquismón in the state of San Luis Potosi. The state’s capital city of the same name has the second-highest crime rate in the country, according to Mexican government studies.