Delorean now safe after becoming victims of ‘virtual kidnapping’ in Mexico City

Police confirm all four band members are 'in good shape and at liberty'

Delorean are now safe after becoming victims of what police in Mexico City are branding a “virtual kidnapping”, Spin reports.

According to the report, the kidnappers posed as local police this Sunday (October 6), telling the Spanish band they were unsafe at their current hotel in Mexico City and should move. At the new hotel, the band had their mobile phones confiscated and the kidnappers called each band member’s family to demand a ransom of 5 million pesos (£240,000) each.

Police have now confirmed that all four members are “in good shape and at liberty” but their current location is unknown and it unclear exactly how the incident played out. However, Spin picked up reports from Spanish newspaper El Pais that Delorean were never in any real danger and simply became victims of a well-known Mexican scam known as “virtual kidnapping”, in which family members are tricked into thinking their loved ones are at risk when really they are not.

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Public security expert Samuel González told El Pais: “It is a form of extortion. They call the victims and tell them that if they don’t hole up in their hotel, for instance, that they’ll hurt them. They tell them to turn off their mobile phone, and then they call their families to say that they’ve been kidnapped. It’s a trick, but it works.”

Delorean released their fourth album ‘Apar’ earlier this year and played at London’s Cargo on September 11. The band cancelled a planned gig in San Francisco last night (October 7) following the “virtual kidnapping” incident and are now due to return to the stage in Seattle tomorrow night (October 9).

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