The majority of the victims are small businessmen and ranchers. At the very top, and numbering just a small number of cases per year, are expatriates. Everyone is at risk. Jenkins says the foreign executives in the oil and energy sectors are especially at risk to kidnapping. According to estimates by Kroll, there were at least 4,000 abductions in Colombia in 1995.
Experts say that kidnapping is well-organized in Colombia.
But some experts say that the guerrilla groups are often blamed unjustly. Even though many of the abductions are attributed to them, many are committed by common criminals who claim to belong to a guerrilla group in order to provoke fear among the families of victims. Brian Jenkins believes that a new specialized anti-kidnapping unit that was established in 1995 should help the situation. According to estimates by Kroll, Brazil averages about 800 kidnappings a year. The majority occur in Rio de Janeiro, but the number in the Sao Paulo area have been increasing.