The premise makes no sense

The movie's premise of the protagonist having to bring the map she has to Colombia is ridiculous and makes no sense.

The map was, after all, MAILED to her. Hello? Mail seems to work just fine between Colombia and the protagonist's place. Would that map really be too big to fit in a mailbox anyway, when it's just paper, that can easily be folded?

In any case, why can't the protagonist just MAIL the map to Colombia? Why can't the 'bad guys' just come and get the map, wouldn't that be MUCH easier for them than kidnapping her sister and making an inexperienced traveler to find them without problems?

I mean, think about it, just travel to her place, ring the doorbell, say you need to borrow the map and will pay for it or whatever. There must be about 29 much better ways to get your hands on that map, if you are one of the 'bad guys'.

I also mean, look at the more evil, actual BAD guy - he had no problems arriving about the same time as the map. It's just unfortunate that Joan wasn't home, or he'd probably already have the map at that point.

Why he followed her all the way to Colombia before doing anything, is beyond me, of course - another 'dumb villain moment' - but at least he had a more logical and direct approach.

Is it really easier / simpler / faster even, to:

- hire a KID to kidnap an adult and endanger traffic and the whole plan by driving a car (what if police stop him and start investigating? WHAT A HUGE RISK!)

- also make sure you find a kid that's trained in bola or whatever those balls are, and who knows how to plant himself inconspicuously blending in with the other kids that play right next to him without reacting to him at all, although he's a stranger to them, and who do NOT run to tell their parents what they just saw happen

I mean, the whole premise of finding a kid, who is not only willing, but trained and able to do all this and cool-headed enough to be able to pull off kidnapping a foreign adult AND steal her car, doing it all in a quick succession, is already a pretty darn enormous miracle, but to even THINK of doing that instead of doing the kidnapping yourself (did they mistake the meaning of 'KIDnapping', that it has to be the KID who does the napping? Not that 'napping' even means.. never mind)?

Then proceed to hold her in custody, while making her call her sister to ask about the map and to come to Colombia, without just ever directly doing ANYTHING by themselves.. sheesh, what lousy crooks!

Then just TRUST this woman who has no experience in traveling in third-world countries, to be able to bring the map to a city she has never been to, and to use local transport correctly... it's a recipe for multiple disasters!

Would all this really be simpler than just going to Joan's place and ringing her doorbell?

By the way, why wasn't the militant evil bad guy that kills a janitor at a drop of a hat (or even before) just WAITING for Joan in her apartment? Problem would be so quickly solved that way. Why did he suddenly disappear, only to reappear later? This makes no sense.

This movie, as 'classic' and admittedly fun as it is (Alan Silvestri's music also helps), sure suffers from the 'stupid villains'-trope.. without stupid villains, so many movies could never happen.

In any case, their hare-brained plan is SO convoluted, riddled of things that can go wrong very easily, so indirect and outlandish, it's a miracle that ANY part of it went without a hitch.

Also, did they really need to resort to kidnapping ANYWAY? Couldn't they just act as if they're some official of Colombia, requesting the map so they can solve the guy's murder or whatnot? Couldn't they tell they're a private detective or just simply offer her a 'handsome sum' for the map that's useless to Joan anyway? Why wouldn't she want to sell it?

Was the BEST course of action really to KIDNAP her sister, and to do it by hiring that 'miracle ninja kid' to do it, too? Geez, just HOW MANY ways could THAT part of the plan alone have gone wrong?

How could goons like that EVER trust that Joan is capable of bringing the map to them? Which would more reliably bring a letter to them, some 'romance novelist' that has never been to Colombia, or the mail service, that delivers stuff between countries routinely?

How about hiring a courier or something? FedEx? SOMETHING?!

Kidnapping should be like 187th on the list!

Sigh.. why do I expect movies to ever make any sense? I must admit, that doesn't make much sense at this point..

P.S. Bonus idea; How about DESCRIBING the incredibly simple and childishly-drawn map on the phone? This shouldn't take more than 5 to 10 minutes, and no one would have to travel anywhere. But no, because the movie has to happen, so everything has to be as convoluted and ridiculous as possible.. SIGH!