April 12, 2006

TIJUANA – A U.S. citizen of Chinese descent was kidnapped Monday afternoon from in front of his business here, just days after another kidnapped U.S. businessman escaped from his abductors.


The victim in the latest incident is George Kwok Choi Chu, who goes by George Chu, according to the U.S. Consulate. He was identified by the Tijuana-based Frontera newspaper as the owner of Choi's, which sells seafood to Chinese restaurants.

Liza Davis of the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana said Chu is a seafood wholesaler.

Jan Caldwell of the FBI confirmed that the case is being investigated as a kidnapping by Mexican authorities.

“Mexican law enforcement authorities contacted us and we are cooperating with them,” she said.

The U.S. Consulate said Chu, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is believed to live in Chula Vista.

Property records in the United States show that a George Chu owns a house in Chula Vista. Listed numbers for the residence were either disconnected or went to a fax machine.

Last week, businessman Yong Hak Kim, president of Amex Manufacturing, was kidnapped as he drove to work in Tijuana. His company provides support services to international factories along the border.

His kidnappers asked for $2 million, but Kim escaped before paying any money. Mexican authorities identified some of his suspected kidnappers as his employees.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... idnap.html

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Update:


TIJUANA, Mexico - The body of a U.S. citizen kidnapped nearly three weeks ago has been found in Tijuana by police, who said he had been beaten, strangled, stripped naked and stashed in the trunk of a car.

Investigators said Saturday that they found the remains of George Kwok Choi Chu, a seafood wholesaler who worked in Tijuana but lived across the border in San Diego, on Friday morning. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City identified the victim simply as George Chu.

Chu was kidnapped April 11 in front of his business near downtown Tijuana, according to the embassy. It was unclear whether the car that contained Chu's body belonged to him.

His body's state of decomposition suggested he had been dead for days before being found, police said.

Chu was kidnapped three days after another U.S. businessman, Yong Hak Kim, was abducted as he drove to his job as a top administrator of Amex Manufacturing in eastern Tijuana.

Kim was able to escape the small home where he was being held about 24 hours later, when his kidnappers fell asleep.

Tijuana's booming assembly-for-export business has led to many businesspeople living in the United States and commuting to factories on the Mexican side of the border.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 462405.htm


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This is why nobody does business in Mexico, no matter how cheap it is.