Renowned Catholic Bishop Drugged, Kidnapped in Mexico

Authorities are looking into the kidnapping of a high-ranking Catholic Church bishop in Mexico. The case has drawn widespread outrage since the cleric made headlines by trying to broker a peace of sorts between rival cartels who were fighting a fierce turf war in his community.

This week, the Morelos Attorney General’s Office revealed they were investigating the kidnapping of Salvador Rangel, a Catholic Church bishop in the state of Guerrero.

The incident began on Saturday morning when Rangel left his home in Juitepec, Morelos, trying to make his way to Chilpancingo, Guerrero. Details remain unknown, but a group of men reportedly abducted him, stole money from his accounts, and drugged him.

Unknown men took the cleric to a local hospital in Morelos, where he was admitted as an unknown. Authorities later identified him as the missing bishop, El Universal reported.

This appears to have been an “express kidnapping,” a term used in Mexico to refer to a forced abduction where gunmen clean out the victim’s accounts or try only to collect a small ransom and release them soon after. The controversy surrounding the high-profile crime comes as the perception that Mexico is unsafe continues to grow due to the apparent soft approach taken by the country’s government against drug cartels.

Bishop Salvador Rangel gained notoriety throughout Mexico when he used his position as a respected cleric and offered to act as an intermediary between two rival criminal organizations fighting for regional control in Guerrero. At the time, the cleric claimed he was only concerned with bringing peace to the region.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.