Rescue the mother of the Venezuelan receiver Elías Díaz

The mother of Elías Díaz, the Venezuelan receiver of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was rescued on Sunday after being kidnapped for three days, the governor of the western state of Zulia reported.

Ana Isabel Soto was rescued by a mixed commission formed by the CICPC judicial police and agents of the Bolivarian Police of Zulia State (CPBEZ), among other security forces, Governor Omar Prieto informed via Twitter.

Prieto added in another tweet that he ordered the director of CPBEZ, Brigadier General Rubén Ramírez Cáceres, the immediate intervention of the Anti-Drug Canine Team for the alleged involvement of officials of that division in the kidnapping. According to press reports, five police officers were arrested.

Venezuelan media reported that Soto, 72, was kidnapped on Thursday morning at least three armed men who were in the entrance of his house located in the sector El Bajo San Francisco municipality of Zulia state, about 650 kilometers west from Caracas.

According to witnesses quoted by Diaz's brother, Eminson Soto, a former player of the local Águilas del Zulia team, they took his mother in a black Jeep Cherokee truck, reported the newspaper Panorama del Zulia. So far the authorities have not provided details about the kidnapping and its subsequent release.

Pirate president Frank Coonelly said on Thursday that the team was working with authorities to ensure the recipient's mother was rescued safely.

Diaz, 24, played 64 games for Pittsburgh in 2017, in which he received .223 with 19 runs batted in and 18 runs scored.