The mayor of Taxco, Mexico and his father were located alive on Monday following a search operation that spanned multiple Mexican states and involved federal security forces, officials said. The two men had both gone missing days earlier in what authorities described as separate but connected abductions.
Juan Vega Arredondo, a 68-year-old doctor and hospital director, was reportedly taken on Saturday after armed men intercepted him while he was driving along the Taxco-Cuernavaca highway. Not long after that, his son, Taxco Mayor Juan Andrés Vega Carranza, set out to look for him and was allegedly kidnapped during efforts to negotiate his release.
They were later found in Zacualpan, a municipality in the State of Mexico near the Guerrero border. A large federal operation, involving more than 500 personnel, including soldiers, marines, National Guard members, and police, was deployed across the region, stretching into rural areas and highway corridors, reports Mexico News Daily.
Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch confirmed the outcome on social media, writing, “Both are safe. Operations to detain those responsible will continue.”
Authorities said the search involved both ground units and helicopter support, with coordination between federal agencies and state authorities in the states of Guerrero and Mexico. Officials said the motive remains unclear at this stage.
García Harfuch said at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference that Vega Arredondo was first reported missing on Saturday, and that no ransom demand had been made. Investigators initially focused on the stretch of highway where he was last seen, and his vehicle was recovered on Sunday during the early stages of the search.
He also confirmed that Vega Carranza disappeared while attempting to locate his father, prompting an expanded federal response ordered by the presidency.
Authorities have pointed to the criminal group La Familia Michoacana, a cartel group, as the likely perpetrator. García Harfuch said, “Indeed, there were two banners that came out against him, one this year, it seems, and the other last year. There are two that we are aware of at this time. And that is also part of the investigation file.”
Taxco, located about 170 kilometers southwest of Mexico City, is widely known as Mexico’s “silver capital.”
Juan Vega Arredondo, a 68-year-old doctor and hospital director, was reportedly taken on Saturday after armed men intercepted him while he was driving along the Taxco-Cuernavaca highway. Not long after that, his son, Taxco Mayor Juan Andrés Vega Carranza, set out to look for him and was allegedly kidnapped during efforts to negotiate his release.
They were later found in Zacualpan, a municipality in the State of Mexico near the Guerrero border. A large federal operation, involving more than 500 personnel, including soldiers, marines, National Guard members, and police, was deployed across the region, stretching into rural areas and highway corridors, reports Mexico News Daily.
Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch confirmed the outcome on social media, writing, “Both are safe. Operations to detain those responsible will continue.”
Authorities said the search involved both ground units and helicopter support, with coordination between federal agencies and state authorities in the states of Guerrero and Mexico. Officials said the motive remains unclear at this stage.
García Harfuch said at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference that Vega Arredondo was first reported missing on Saturday, and that no ransom demand had been made. Investigators initially focused on the stretch of highway where he was last seen, and his vehicle was recovered on Sunday during the early stages of the search.
He also confirmed that Vega Carranza disappeared while attempting to locate his father, prompting an expanded federal response ordered by the presidency.
Authorities have pointed to the criminal group La Familia Michoacana, a cartel group, as the likely perpetrator. García Harfuch said, “Indeed, there were two banners that came out against him, one this year, it seems, and the other last year. There are two that we are aware of at this time. And that is also part of the investigation file.”
Taxco, located about 170 kilometers southwest of Mexico City, is widely known as Mexico’s “silver capital.”
