Argentine Police protecting Manu Ginobili

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

via cnnsi.com

 

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) -- NBA basketball star Manu Ginobili and his family will have police protection in his native Argentina after police overheard a kidnapping plan in a phone tap, officials said on Wednesday.

 

Ginobili, 26, just renewed his contract as a guard for the San Antonio Spurs and will earn $52 million for the next six seasons to become Argentina's best paid athlete.

 

"We had certain information from intelligence that there was a threat and we responded, as we do in these cases, by preventing a crime and providing necessary protection," said Leon Arslanian, security secretary for Buenos Aires province.

 

Ginobili married last Saturday and has been on his honeymoon in Argentina's Andes mountain range.

 

Brother Leandro Ginobili told local radio the family knew that sooner or later kidnappers would target the player because of his successful career and lucrative contracts.

 

Last year, Ginobili became the first Argentine to play and win an NBA championship final, making him a national celebrity.

 

In the past few years as economic decline spurred a surge in crime, other Argentina sports stars like soccer players Juan Roman Riquelme and Leonardo Astrada have had family members kidnapped for ransom.

[Dangerous A 0]

That's actually a scary thing because Argentina is notorious for kidnappings. My wife studied abroad there for 6 months and I ran my phone bill through the roof contacting her weekly because of my concern of a situation like Manu is in.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Most of South America is a breeding ground for kidnappers. Guerrila miliatants need to finance their weapons somehow so they kidnap loads of Americans and hope to get a rich one or they kidnap celebrities in their area.

 

The poor people who are kidnapped are often traded for their members that are in jail.