A children’s football team was kidnapped on a highway as the youngsters travelled back from a tournament.
Twelve kids, including 11 players and the coach’s daughter, were travelling in the club’s Mercedes Sprinter minibus when it was hijacked.
Five adults were also in the van, including the driver and the coach.
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The children’s team Club Deportivo Real Cachorros was returning from a football tournament in Guadalupe, located north-west of the Mexican capital Mexico City, when they were attacked.
According to reports, two vehicles blocked the minibus’ path on Federal Highway 49 near the town of Azogueros, about 54 miles from Guadalupe.
One vehicle blocked the front and the other prevented the driver from reversing away.
Armed men then got out of the two vehicles and boarded the team bus.
Witnesses said the attackers forced the driver to the back of the bus while one of them took the wheel.
The alleged hijacking was witnessed by the players’ stunned relatives travelling in other vehicles.
They immediately alerted the authorities and posted updates on social media.
During the journey, the gang members communicated with each other on radio and learned that the alleged kidnapping had already started going viral on social networks.
They also learned that the authorities had sent a crack team of officers from the Federal Ministerial Police, the National Guard, the Secretariat of Public Security, and local cops from Zacatecas and Aguascalientes to intercept the hijacked bus.
After apparently realising they were on the brink of getting caught, the gang abandoned the vehicle on a dirt track just off the motorway.
Before fleeing the scene, the suspects allegedly robbed the victims of their phones, wallets and watches.
The authorities then located the victims near the city of Aguascalientes on 25 January.
The 17 team members were all unharmed, as reported by Need To Know.
Local journalist Gustavo Robledo said the victims were found “without a scratch” thanks to “social media awareness”.
The State Attorney General’s Office has vowed to track down those responsible.
The investigation into the alleged kidnapping is ongoing.
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