Mexico’s Top Soccer Player Kidnapped by armed men

25-year-old Alan Pulido was kidnapped by armed men early Sunday morning after leaving a party near Ciudad Victoria.

Mexican soccer star Alan Pulido was kidnapped by armed men on Sunday outside of his hometown of Ciudad Victoria in the northern border state of Tamaulipas.

Pulido at the World Cup in Brazil in June 2014. AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo

Pulido is a forward for Greece’s Olympiacos football club and was part of Mexico’s 2014 World Cup team.

Ismael Quintanilla, state prosecutor in Tamaulipas, told reporters the 25-year-old player was kidnapped as he left a party near Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas, a state with high crime rates.

“We have information that he was intercepted by armed people and since then, his whereabouts are unknown,” Quintanilla said.

The prosecutor said law enforcement agencies have no indication that the kidnappers have contacted Pulido’s family so far.

The Tamaulipas Coordination Group, which includes state and federal agencies, is leading a search effort to locate the young star, it said on Twitter.

The player’s brother, Armando, told website Medio Tiempo on Sunday that the soccer star had been kidnapped in the early morning after attending a party.

“We have all the support of the governor,” he added.

Henry Romero / Reuters

Pulido debuted as a star soccer player with Mexico’s Club Tigres in Monterrey in 2009. He played several seasons with the club which has expressed its solidarity with the Pulido family in “the difficult situation they are experiencing.”