A professional soccer player who was kidnapped in Mexico Saturday night has been rescued by authorities, according to state officials.
Alan Pulido told reporters he was “very well, very well, thank God,” as he stood alongside the governor of Mexico’s Tamaulipas state, Egidio Torre Cantú, in a video posted on Twitter.
Pulido’s right hand was bandaged in the video.
https://twitter.com/GCTamaulipas/status/737176304655597568?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
“The most important thing is that he is here. He is with us and that’s what we want to tell you,” Torre Cantú said. “He is how you see him. We will continue working now.”
The 25-year-old, a striker for Greece’s Olympiacos club who has also played in the past for Mexico’s national team, was kidnapped Saturday night in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas state.
He was rescued shortly before midnight Sunday in “a city operation in conjunction with the federal government,” according to a statement from the Tamaulipas government.
“Pulido is currently being medically evaluated and more details on the rescue operation will be sent out later,” it said.
Ciudad Victoria has been one of Mexico’s most brutal battlegrounds in conflicts between rival drug cartels.
Hundreds of kidnappings were reported in the border state last year, although activists say the true tally of missing people is likely underreported and actually much higher.
KTLA’s John A. Moreno contributed to this report.
