Express kidnapping

Express kidnapping is the latest innovation among criminal gangs in Latin America who want to net the most cash in the least time. Here’s how it works: criminals accost a well dressed executive late at night in his car once as he emerges from an upscale restaurant. The victim is escorted at gunpoint to an ATM, where he is forced to make the maximum daily withdrawal - generally between $1000 and $2000. The kidnapers sometimes wait and force the victim to make another maximum daily withdrawal after the clock turns over, usually at midnight. A victim who doesn’t resist usually isn't hurt and is dropped off in a remote location, often only half an hour or so after he was first grabbed.

- Time Global Business - August 2002.