EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Violence continues to plague Juarez, Mexico, despite the recent arrival of 2,100 soldiers and last month’s transfer of gang leaders from various state prisons.
Five men were killed early Friday, bringing the total to 21 homicide victims in the first five days of April. Two victims were shot in broad daylight inside a blue Jeep on a street corner in the densely populated Zaragoza neighborhood near the U.S. border.
Police said assailants shot the driver of the idling vehicle at point-blank range, then chased a passenger down the street and gunned him down. A few minutes later, police and members of Mexico’s National Guard searched a nearby home where several people allegedly were being held against their will.
According to a police report obtained by Border Report, police received a call at 10:17 a.m. from a man who said he had escaped the home. He said he was held against his will for two days along with four other people. Police received a second call from a resident telling them people were yelling for help at the residence.
Other witnesses told police they saw three men escort several people with their heads covered into the residence two days earlier, the report states. The residents did not report the incident out of fear for their lives.
Authorities said they rescued from the home one man who self-identified as a migrant. Later, they received a report of a second man who also had managed to escape and immediately exited Juarez. No arrests had been reported as of early Friday afternoon.
Border Report is waiting to hear from the mayor of Juarez and various police officials holding their weekly public safety meeting on Friday.
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