EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Half a dozen individuals have been arrested in Juarez, Mexico, in connection with a series of kidnappings of migrants and local residents.
Two are alleged members of the transnational criminal organization La Empresa. Manuel de Jesus R.M., 21, and Saira M.G., 25, were taken into custody by Juarez police and members of Mexico’s National Guard during a raid this week on a home less than a mile south of the U.S. border wall by Socorro, Texas.
The officers and soldiers retrieved a .380-caliber pistol from the scene and freed two citizens of India they say were being kept in the home against their will by the two suspects so they could extort money from relatives.
In a separate case, Chihuahua state police arrested Hector Jose M.S. and Miguel Angel H.L. in connection with the abduction and torture of two men earlier this month. The victims were kept in a home near the mountains of west Juarez; authorities said they were subjected to physical and emotional duress until they were willing to call and instruct relatives to wire money to a bank account.
The victims were transported to the town of Samalayuca south of Juarez, where one managed to flee his captors and call for help, the Chihuahua Attorney General said in a statement.
The two suspects were arrested at the home, the remaining victim was freed and three firearms seized. The suspects face kidnapping and weapons charges.
Otoniel L.R., 49, and Sergio Arturo R.R., 29, face a more serious aggravated kidnapping charge for the abduction of a man and his daughter earlier this month.
The two allegedly recorded themselves subjecting the man and his daughter to violence and sent the recordings to relatives, demanding a $25,000 ransom for them.
The Attorney General’s Office said the state police traced the calls to a home in Juarez where they arrested the two alleged kidnappers and rescued the woman. The abducted man died while in captivity, the agency said.
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