Caracas, Feb 8 (EFE).- Venezuelan authorities arrested a fourth person in connection with the brief abduction of Mexican Ambassador Carlos Pujalte and his wife on Jan. 29, the interior minister said Wednesday.
The suspect, identified as Rafael Rosales Ibarra, was detained in the central state of Miranda, Tareck el Aissami said on Twitter.
The minister announced Monday that three people were in custody for the kidnapping and two other suspects were being sought.
The Mexican ambassador and his wife, Paloma Ojeda, were kidnapped in the early morning of Jan. 29 as they left a reception in a residential neighborhood in northern Caracas. The couple was released four hours later in a different part of the Venezuelan capital.
Pujalte, an attorney and career diplomat, described the captors as four "heavily armed" men.
An official at the Mexican Embassy in Caracas told Efe the mission alerted Venezuelan authorities after the ambassador's vehicle turned up abandoned in the wee hours of Jan. 29.
Once the envoy and his wife were recovered safe and sound, police launched an investigation.
Pujalte's kidnapping came two months after the Chilean consul in Caracas, Juan Carlos Fernandez, was shot, beaten and held captive for two hours.
Venezuela has a homicide rate of 48 per 100,000 residents and Caracas is considered one of the most dangerous cities in Latin America.
