Gangs and organized crime provide easy but very dangerous ways out. And there are places on the planet, whether we are talking about entire countries or simple neighborhoods where getting involved with a gang can be a professional development. Not in the direction of the professional orientation that a school would give, however.
For years, those involved in illegal activities may live comfortably, but the chances of getting it out are infinitesimal. Their fate is either in a grave or behind bars. So those who do not have moral issues and easy but damn money is their driving force turn in different ways to the gangs or are the easy victim for them.
The countries of Central and South America hold the leading positions in the world economic scale. Mexico, however, if it has not already taken the lead, hits with great success the "door" of the first place as the world king of crime. No one has escaped from the gangster nets. Politicians, judges, public officials, artists, athletes have been targeted in one way or another.
Serious crime figures in Mexico are staggering. Gangs can be more than just political or social organizations in the country.
Since 2006, more than 170.000 murders have been recorded across Mexico and about 28.000 people are missing.
According to the Mexican authorities, 7.667 people were killed in the first three months of the new year, a number that increased by 20% compared to the corresponding period of 2017.
The escalation of violence is recorded against the background of the proliferation mainly of drug traffickers. However, violence is also linked to the new criminal fashion (among others), that of kidnappers.
In January 2018, the authorities counted 2.549 murders and in February 2.389. In March, 2.729 homicides were recorded. While the discovery of secret mass graves is an almost daily phenomenon in the media.
No one feels safe leaving their home when they are not at all sure if they will return to it. From 2007 to 2013 there was a 200% increase in abductions!
The ransom seems to have sweetened the mobsters. In the first quarter of 2018 alone, 400 abductions were recorded.
The ball is worshiped at Mexico. It may be the only thing that can strike at organized crime. Obviously the football field has not been left inaccessible by gangs and cartels.
There are many cases of barons of crime who were involved with football clubs in order to gain even greater social support but also to launder some of the money they made with their other activities. The cases of Escobas and Atletico Nacional but also of America de Cali with the homonymous cartel are typical.
Athletes were not unaffected by this scourge either. The most typical example, however, is goalkeeper Oscar Ortiz who came to wear the gloves of the National Mexico and today is in prison for participating in a kidnapping ring!
Although he started an important career in the late 90s wearing the goalkeeper's gloves, from a young age he acquired the nickname "Shoeless Cat" due to his facial features.
His career was on the rise and included the following teams: Monterrey (1997-'01, 2002-'03, 2009-'10), Selaya (2001-'02), Nekaxa (2003, 2008), Jaguares (2004- ' 07), Atlanta (2009). He had his best season with the Chiapas Jaguars, but earlier in 2002 he played with the Mexican National Team in the Golden Cup, while with Monterrey in 2009 he won the championship.
After the 2009 championship with Monterrey, Ortiz occupies the titles and the media as the rumors about his cocaine addiction erupt. In general, "Gatos" was not the best child as he had come into the hands of his opponents several times inside the field. Behavior that cost him punishments and exclusions. Condition rare for his position goalkeeper.
In May 2010, however, his free fall began. He was "doped" for using anabolic steroids and was sentenced to a two-year ban from any sporting event. But this was a sin in the face of what would follow.
His cocaine addiction made him vulnerable to all kinds of criminals. And when he got to the point where he owed enough money to be able to cope with his addiction, that was the time the Gulf Cartel mobsters were waiting for.
In 2012, his family declared him missing, but rumors that he wanted to escape arrest by the police gave and took. It was soon revealed that Ortiz was at home as police arrested him after testifying against him for taking part in kidnappings.
In the trial that followed, the details shocked the football community and not only. The former international goalkeeper was accused of collaborating with a gang responsible for at least 20 kidnappings. Among them was the ex-husband of Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi in 2011.
In fact, Ortiz's role in the circuit was executive. It monitored and identified potential targets. From the ransom that the gang would receive, he would receive 10%.
He was imprisoned at the age of 36 and remained in Cantereita Prison. He has served 7 years in prison. He has repeatedly announced to the media that due to his condition he is close to suicide.
His judicial authorities announced his sentence on January 8, 2019 to 75 years in prison. He will serve his sentence in the Cereso de Cadereyta prison where he was injured during a prisoner uprising in 2017.
The kidnapping gangs in Mexico they had their eyes fixed everywhere. In any case he was so prosperous that the ransom was relatively easy to give.
So football people did not escape this scourge.
In 1999, the father of then-Mexican national goalkeeper Jorge Campos was abducted and released only when his son paid a large sum of money.
A few years later in 2005, the then Cruz coach Azul Ruben Omar Romano was abducted in Mexico City by gunmen, returning home after training. He remained in the hands of the kidnappers for 65 days and was released by the federal authorities safe and sound.
In 2016, however, news broke in the Greek media as well, as information from Mexico led to the abduction of the former (now) striker of Olympiacos, Alan Poulido.
The former Olympiacos player was released without the need for ransom, while subsequent investigations revealed that the mastermind of his abduction was the husband of a cousin of Poulidos.