Trinidad's Special Anti-Crime Unit mounted a major rescue operation April 11 for used-car salesman Ramesh Mahabir, who had been kidnapped for ransom from his job on the island's west side a day earlier. Acting on a tip, police recovered the victim unharmed and arrested two people, one of whom turned out to be a suspended constable in Trinidad's elite Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB). Meanwhile in the Philippines, the Department of Justice is holding eight police officers in connection with the May 2004 abduction of Jose Tan Ong, a Filipino-Chinese businessman. The officers, who were assigned to the Philippine National Police's (PNP) Western Police District's Intelligence Unit, allegedly carried out the abduction, demanding more than $195,000 from his family for his release. These cases — and many others in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, El Salvador and Colombia — highlight a serious problem: Police whose job it is to investigate cases of abduction often moonlight as kidnappers themselves or make such crimes a full-time occupation after losing jobs on the local security force. Such crime is especially rampant in Third World countries with corrupt police forces — where the lines between law enforcement and criminal communities are blurred. Armed with the knowledge and connections to evade capture, police in such countries often stage kidnappings for ransom as a means to supplement their often-meager incomes. Moreover, because the officers sometimes wear their uniforms while perpetrating such crimes, they are more prone to kill the victim rather than take the chance that they will be identified later as police. Police-involved kidnapping cases often involve units from a country's more elite law enforcement units such as Trinidad's GEB, or specialized officers like those in the PNP's intelligence units. This likely is due to the fact that, unlike regular "beat cops," elite officers are experienced in handling kidnapping investigations, which puts them in a better position to carry out such a crime and, theoretically, to avoid arrest. Most police-involved kidnappings in the developing world have not targeted Westerners, perhaps because such crimes could draw the attention of officials higher up in the local law enforcement hierarchy, or even the national government. Lacking influence at these levels, corrupt police officers would have more of a chance of being caught. In many countries in which law enforcement is incapable of helping, or is directly involved in the abduction, families and employers have turned to other means to secure the victim's release. In these cases, private individuals and security firms, often Western-based, have stepped in to serve as intermediaries between the family/employers and the kidnappers. Services such as these are especially attractive when the victim's family or employer considers the host country's authorities so inept or corrupt that they do not even report the kidnapping for fear that the government might botch a rescue attempt or bungle the investigation. Despite police efforts in the Mahabir and Ong cases to bring corrupt officers to justice, little has been done at the local level to dissuade police officers in many countries from participating in kidnap-for-ransom schemes. Better screening of police candidates, better oversight and better pay for officers would be first steps in reducing such crime.