Kidnapping has become one of the top moneymakers for organized crime in the region. Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Haiti, and Ecuador are all part of the top ten worst kidnapping countries in the world. El Salvador and Guatemala also have high levels of kidnapping.

Colombia is often blamed for the massification of the practice. There, large and small rebel groups kidnapped people, often en masse along the sides of highways, helping to give it the highest rate in the world. Other neighboring countries, Ecuador and Venezuela in particular, face similar issues with similar groups. In the Americas, the practice of what’s called “express kidnapping” is also common, although these are most frequently done by smaller groups that do not usually qualify as organized crime.