A Brazilian fashion model, her husband and their 11-year-old son were kidnapped last Wednesday evening as they left a restaurant in the upscale Alto de Lapa district in western Sao Paulo.
The family was about to enter their SUV outside of the restaurant at 2100 when they were confronted by three armed assailants.
The assailants, using the couple’s SUV, drove the three victims to a safehouse in the Brasilandia slum on the outskirts of northern Sao Paulo.
The three were held for 12 hours in a shack while their cellphones were used by the kidnappers to make several electronic cash transfers.
The couple’s daughter, who didn’t attend the dinner, alerted relatives when her parents and brother failed to return home.
Police staged an extensive search for the missing family, led by the State of Sao Paulo’s Civil Police Anti-Kidnapping Division (Portuguese abbr: DAS).
With police closing in, the assailants abandoned the victims at 1030 on Thursday morning in the Parada de Taipas neighborhood, also in northern Sao Paulo.
The victims were able to flag down help from a passing motorist, who took them to a nearby police station.
No arrests have been made.
The incident most likely was an opportunistic kidnapping by assailants prowling the upscale district for easy prey.
Express kidnappings have increased in every state in Brazil.
Most, but not all, begin as carjackings, with assailants in multiple vehicles boxing in their victims at intersections, in parking lots or outside residences.
Others involve taxi passengers and mall patrons, especially women walking alone to their cars after dark. Bank and ATM customers also are victimized.
Most cases are crimes of opportunity.
Of particular concern is a huge increase in the number of crimes related to the use of the Brazil Central Bank’s recently adopted PIX instant-cash-transfer system.
Victims are obliged to reveal PIN numbers to their bank accounts, which assailants use to make cash transfers through the PIX system. Funds are directed to bank accounts established by the criminals. The accounts frequently are changed.
Victims are threatened with violence if accounts are closed or restricted.
Authorities have tried to curb the problem by restricting PIX transfers between 2200 and 0600 to 1,000 reais ($184), but kidnappers have responded by staging abductions during business hours and/or holding victims beyond 0600.
In some cases, victims have been held for several days to circumvent limits on daily transfers.
The PIX app is used in 91 percent of express kidnappings.
Foreign visitors should use corporate-provided vehicles, hotel taxis, or radio-dispatched taxis to get around. They should not self-drive unless they are very familiar with areas to be visited.
The best countermeasure to express kidnappings is the avoidance of high-profile vehicles. Also, chauffeurs, corporate managers and dependents accustomed to self-driving should be trained in protective driving.
Vehicles should be driven with windows rolled up and doors locked. Ideally, they should be factory armored.
Drivers should leave plenty of room to maneuver at intersections. To avoid putting themselves at risk, most drivers roll through red lights at night. The practice is legal in Brazilian cities between 0200 and 0600 and common after 2200. Quick-opening driveway or garage gates are advised for homes and offices. Ideally, armed security guards also should monitor arrivals and departures.
It is never wise to sit for long in parked cars, nor loiter on public sidewalks when entering or exiting vehicles.
PIX users should use dedicated cell phones to make transfers and not carry them outside their homes or offices.
It is important for personnel to set limits on transfers and monitor their accounts daily.
Personnel should not resist assailants, who almost always are armed and do not hesitate to use their weapons. They should refrain from making sudden movements.
