Mexican drug gang turns to kidnapping in U.S.

Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:34pm EDT

By Lizbeth Diaz

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - American businesswoman Veronica was stepping out of her car in California when two men forced her into the passenger seat at gunpoint, pushed her teenage daughter into the back and drove them into Mexico.

Taking advantage of lax Mexican security at the San Diego border, and with U.S. authorities focused mainly on those entering the United States, the kidnappers took the two women to Tijuana in January and held them for a month before their family paid a $100,000 ransom.

"We got an automatic green light to go through Mexican customs and then we were blindfolded and taken to a house in Tijuana. They held a pistol to my stomach all the time we were in the car," said Veronica, who declined to give her surname.

An unintended consequence of Mexican efforts to weaken drug gangs, drug traffickers around Tijuana are turning to abducting U.S. citizens and residents in southern California and holding them in Mexico as a new way to get funds, U.S. and Mexican authorities say.

Mexican intelligence officials say Veronica is one of around 30 Americans abducted in southern California and taken to Tijuana since last November. Many of the victims are of Hispanic origin and hold double nationality.

Mexico to establish 5 anti-kidnapping centers

ASSOCIATED PRESS

3:23 p.m. August 11, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Mexico is establishing five national anti-kidnapping centers and pushing for a cleanup of police forces after authorities were implicated in the deadly abduction of a prominent businessman's son.

The Public Safety Department's intelligence coordinator, Luis Cardenas, says the centers will staffed by 300 federal police and open 24 hours a day. The centers were announced on Sunday.

On Monday, Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino said the federal government has offered to help eliminate corruption in local and state police forces.

5 South Koreans kidnapped in Mexican border city

Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Kwang-Tae Kim - The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea-- Five South Koreans were abducted in a Mexican border city, officials said Tuesday.

Gunmen who seized the four men and one woman demanded a $30,000 ransom in return for their freedom, according to an official from the National Intelligence Service. The official did not give further details and asked not to be named, citing an internal policy.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak instructed his top security adviser to "make utmost efforts for quick and safe return" of the kidnapped victims.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the five were kidnapped in the Mexico border city of Reynosa last Monday when they were traveling there to seek job information. The ministry said the five were confirmed to be alive.

Mexico has a large South Korean population, many of whom are active in the import industry and own assembly-for-export factories.

Reynosa police officer Mario Gomez said local authorities were investigating the reports, but could not release any information.

Kidnappings for ransom have become commonplace in Mexico, which has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the world. Many are never reported to police, in part because of the fear that local officials may be involved or will bungle a possible rescue.

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Kidnappers free 5 South Koreans held for ransom in Mexico by smugglers

By Mark Walsh

ASSOCIATED PRESS

7:32 p.m. July 22, 2008

REYNOSA, Mexico – Five South Koreans abducted in Mexico were set free unharmed on Tuesday, more than a week after they were kidnapped and held for ransom, officials said.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry announced the Koreans were in custody of Mexican police and would be handed over to the South Korean Embassy there.

In an interview with Radio Formula, Tamaulipas state attorney general Jose Herrera confirmed the five had been released Tuesday afternoon in Reynosa, and were meeting with embassy officials.

Mexican authorities said the South Koreans were kidnapped on July 14 while driving in Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas, and their captors had demanded US$30,000.

Herrera said the four men and one woman were not in Mexico on business but instead were here looking to cross into the U.S. illegally.

“They were held so (their kidnappers) could profit for crossing them to the United States,” Herrera said.

Tijuana doctors protest kidnappings, extortions

Doctors walk off jobs to protest Tijuana violence

By Sandra Dibble

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

6:27 p.m. April 18, 2008

TIJUANA – Doctors walked off their jobs Friday to protest a rash of kidnappings and extortions that have plagued members of their profession in recent months.

Wearing white coats, more than 200 physicians converged at the state government offices demanding an audience with Gov. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan.

“We are not living in peace, we are living with fear, and this is not healthy,” said Dr. Eric Rosenberg, an internist at a public hospital and head of Tijuana's Colegio Medico, the city's largest medical group with 800 members.

Staff remained on duty to attend to emergency cases at private and public hospitals across the city, Rosenberg said.

The protest came a day after the release of Dr. Fernando Guzman Cordero, the director of a federal hospital known as Clinica Uno del IMSS. He was kidnapped Tuesday.

“We are scared to wear this,” said Dr. Cesar Perez Acosta, pointing to his white coat. “It turns us into a target, when we go out we have to try to avoid calling attention to ourselves.

Organized crime groups dedicated to kidnapping have targeted different groups, including doctors, merchants and restaurant owners, said Victor Clark, director of the Binational Center for Human Rights.

Migrant kidnappings by Mexican cops on the rise-U.N.

REUTERS

12:41 p.m. March 15, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Cases of corrupt Mexican police kidnapping undocumented Central American migrants for ransom as they travel overland to the United States are on the rise, a United Nations official said Saturday.

Jorge Bustamante, the U.N.'s special investigator for migrant rights, said extorting ransoms from migrants could be more lucrative for unscrupulous police than working for drug smuggling gangs.

“They kidnap migrants, ask them for information, relatives' phone numbers; then they extort money from the families,” Bustamante said, presenting the conclusions of a week-long study of how undocumented migrants are treated in Mexico.

Bustamante told a news conference both federal and local police were involved in kidnapping rackets on Mexico's northern and southern borders. “It's an abuse and it's increasing,” he said.

Migrant kidnappings by Mexican cops on the rise-U.N.

REUTERS

12:41 p.m. March 15, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Cases of corrupt Mexican police kidnapping undocumented Central American migrants for ransom as they travel overland to the United States are on the rise, a United Nations official said Saturday.

Jorge Bustamante, the U.N.'s special investigator for migrant rights, said extorting ransoms from migrants could be more lucrative for unscrupulous police than working for drug smuggling gangs.

“They kidnap migrants, ask them for information, relatives' phone numbers; then they extort money from the families,” Bustamante said, presenting the conclusions of a week-long study of how undocumented migrants are treated in Mexico.

Bustamante told a news conference both federal and local police were involved in kidnapping rackets on Mexico's northern and southern borders. “It's an abuse and it's increasing,” he said.

Troops wage 5-hour gunbattle with Tijuana kidnap-ring suspects

By Sandra Dibble

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

9:46 p.m. March 3, 2008

TIJUANA – A gunbattle between federal troops and members of a suspected kidnapping ring sent residents of a well-to-do neighborhood diving for cover late Sunday and early Monday for more than five hours.

One person died inside a house, where soldiers found an arsenal that included rifles, shotguns, handguns and ammunition and bulletproof vests, ski masks and uniforms with the insignia of various Mexican police agencies. They also found a blue jacket labeled “ICE,” the acronym for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The shooting started when the suspects, barricaded inside the house, began shooting at a group of soldiers patrolling the area, army Col. Sergio Lopez said in a statement Monday evening.

Police say American woman was kidnapped

El Paso Times Staff
Article Launched: 02/27/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

A California woman who was found wandering the streets of downtown Juárez had been kidnapped by a taxi driver at the El Paso International Airport, beaten and abandoned in Juárez, Juárez police said.

El Paso police and FBI officials said Tuesday they did not know about the case.

Police said they took Kimberly Citwood, 23, of Santa Rosa, Calif., to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez. Consulate officials could not be reached Tuesday.

Police fear violence from border-related kidnappings

Ransoms high, cases rising

Lindsey Collom
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 26, 2008 12:00 AM

The brother of a drug pusher taken from a roadside stop. Three suspected coyotes bound and beaten as a fourth points out their boss' west Phoenix address. A low-level smuggling boss forced from his home at gunpoint as his wife and young children watch.

These are the victims when criminals kidnap other criminals for up to six-figure ransoms.

Phoenix police investigated 40 percent more border-related kidnappings in 2007 than the previous year. Police say the uptick means more kidnappings are taking place and more people are reporting them.

Authorities worry the escalating violence could harm innocent people, be they caught in the crossfire or targets for abduction.

"There's extreme violence from both sides, lots of money and lots of weapons," said Phoenix robbery Sgt. Phil Roberts. Some battles have erupted in gunfire on city streets. "The immediate danger is that innocent people will get caught up in it."

ICE, Mexican authorities reunite kidnapped baby girl with Mexican mother

Pair separated for three months after abducted infant was smuggled into U.S.

LAS VEGAS - A woman from Juarez, Mexico, whose 7-month-old daughter was kidnapped from their home three months ago, was reunited with her child here earlier today, capping an intensive effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Procuraduria General de la Republica (the Mexican Attorney General's Office, commonly known as the PGR) to locate the infant and return her.

The mother, Francisca Garcia-Favila, was paroled into the United States and escorted to Las Vegas by ICE agents and representatives from the PGR. This morning marked the first time Garcia-Favila had seen her daughter, Alexandra, since the child was kidnapped shortly before Thanksgiving and brought into the United States by members of a Juarez-based human smuggling ring. Representatives from the local Mexican consulate attended today's reunion and are providing assistance to the mother.

"Seeing this child reunited with her mother was deeply gratifying for everyone involved," said Kevin Kozak, deputy special agent in charge of the ICE office that oversees the agency's investigative efforts in Las Vegas. "There were moments when we weren't sure the case would have a happy ending, but law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border persevered and this reunion is a direct result of our extraordinary cooperative efforts."

The child was allegedly abducted by Rosario Hernandez, a Mexican national living in Las Vegas, who was a distant acquaintance of the victim. After snatching the child, authorities say Hernandez sought assistance from a human smuggling organization to help her and the infant illegally cross the border. After the pair arrived in the United States, Hernandez and the infant became separated. Hernandez was arrested and detained after being intercepted at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol checkpoint in New Mexico. Meanwhile, the smuggling organization brought the infant to Las Vegas and turned her over to Hernandez's former boyfriend, Gamaniel Villapando-Triste. According to investigators, Hernandez had told Villapando-Triste he was the child's father, a claim Villapando-Triste believed because Hernandez was pregnant when the two separated. Villapando-Triste did not know Hernandez had subsequently suffered a miscarriage.

Border Patrol Agents Rescue Juvenile Runaways, Arrest Kidnapper

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Yuma, Ariz. – Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents rescued two juvenile runaways and arrested an alleged kidnapper Monday after they entered the United States without having been inspected at a port of entry.

About 8:30 p.m., Sector Enforcement Specialists, utilizing a Remote Video Surveillance System, observed three subjects jump the primary International Boundary Fence near San Luis, Ariz. Border Patrol agents responded to the area and intercepted the trio near a local canal.

The group consisted of one adult male, one juvenile female and one juvenile male, all claiming U.S. citizenship. All subjects were transported to the San Luis port of entry for record checks.

Records listed the two juveniles as runaways. Further checks showed the adult male had an active arrest warrant for kidnapping.

The juveniles were turned over to the San Luis Police Department and were booked into the county juvenile detention facility to await their parents. The adult male is in the San Luis Police Department’s custody pending charges stemming from his warrant.

Kidnappings of U.S. citizens on rise

Sophisticated Mexican groups plot abductions
By Tony Manolatos
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 6, 2008

Organized, well-financed and violent Mexican kidnapping cells are targeting a growing number of U.S. citizens visiting communities popular with San Diegans and other California residents.

Last year, at least 26 San Diego County residents were kidnapped and held for ransom in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach or Ensenada, local FBI agents overseeing the cases said yesterday. In 2006, at least 11 county residents had been kidnapped in the three communities.

“Some of the 26 were recovered, some were hurt and some were killed,” said agent Alex Horan, who directs the FBI's violent-crime squad in San Diego.

“It's not a pleasant experience. Victims have reported beatings, torture and there have been rapes. . . . Handcuffs and hoods over the head are common,” he said.

When contrasted to the 40 million border crossings made every year at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the kidnapping numbers are small. Most of the victims have business interests or family members in Mexico.

But authorities said anyone planning to visit Mexico should be cautious.

“I would certainly be concerned,” Horan said.

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana issued a travel advisory last week that said U.S. citizens living and traveling in Mexico should be extra vigilant.

Gunfights and other violence linked to drug cartels have increased in Baja California, and more Mexican citizens have been kidnapped lately.

Smugglers ratchet up abductions in Phoenix

By Jacques Billeaud

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX — A woman leaving an eyeglass store is grabbed in the parking lot by four men who force her, kicking and screaming, into a pickup truck. The kidnappers demand a $900,000 ransom.

But police soon realize her family is holding something back and isn't fully cooperating with them. Later, investigators find out that relatives have arranged the woman's release on their own. And they discover that members of the family are heavy into marijuana trafficking.

The case illustrates how a terrifyingly common crime in Latin America has moved across the border into the United States: Criminals and their family members are being kidnapped by fellow criminals and held for six-figure ransoms.

The abductions are occurring in the Phoenix area at the rate of practically one per day, and police suspect they have led to killings in which bound and bullet-riddled bodies have been found dumped in the desert.

The kidnap victims are typically drug or immigrant smugglers, who are seen as inviting targets because they have a lot of money, they can raise large sums of cash on short notice, and they are unlikely to go to the police for fear that their own shady dealings will come to light.

"We have never had a victim that we have investigated that has been as clean as the new driven snow," said Sgt. Phil Roberts, who investigates the kidnappings. "There has always been some type of criminal element to it. Either they are criminals, drug dealers or human smugglers — or a close family member is."

The kidnappers themselves are fellow traffickers who are doing it for the money or to punish their rivals.

Phoenix had more than 340 such kidnappings reported last year, but police said the real number is much higher because many cases go unreported.