Thread: AZ: Police Bust Suspected Armed Kidnapping Syndicate

Police Bust Suspected Armed Kidnapping Syndicate

POSTED: 10:48 am MST March 8, 2007

PHOENIX -- Phoenix police on Thursday announced the arrests of six people in connection with the armed kidnapping of undocumented immigrants.

Police said the Phoenix Gun Squad and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officials developed information on a possible criminal syndicate that may have been responsible for armed kidnappings of human smugglers and their live cargo on Valley freeways.

Investigators determined that 27-year-old Pablo Duran Guzman and his group were profiling possible victims by cruising Valley freeways.

At 11 p.m. Wednesday, officials said a Phoenix police helicopter spotted Guzman and three others, 26-year-old Jesus Avena-Pina, 31-year-old Alvaro Avena-Acuna and 26-year-old Javier Gerardo Perez, driving eastbound on Interstate 10 in a large pickup.

Police said the suspects rammed another large pickup, forcing it to exit the freeway at Warner Road.

The second pickup came to a stop about one block east of the freeway.

Officers were following the helicopter's directions to the scene, but before they could get there, police said the suspects forced 15 people from the rammed pickup into their own pickup at gunpoint and fled on eastbound Interstate 10.

They left the victims' pickup on Warner Road.

Police said the helicopter followed the suspects' pickup to a home near 35th Avenue and Osborn Road.

Officers said they entered the home to find Guzman's companions and 15 undocumented immigrants. The suspects were arrested and the immigrants were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Police said Guzman had left the house by himself and was arrested at an apartment near 24th Street and Thomas Road.

Detectives said further information led them to another location near Pierce and 13th streets, where they arrested Eleo Marin Garcia and Thomas Castillo Garcia, both 29.

Police said no one was injured during the operation.

Investigators said Wednesday night's arrests do not appear to be connected to similar incidents in the Valley, including an armed kidnapping at 50th Street and Ray Road two weeks ago.

Search warrants were served Thursday at the three locations where the arrests were made.

The suspects face multiple charges including kidnapping and possible weapons violations.
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http://www.kpho.com/news/11203094/de...s=pho&psp=news

Wasn't this the crime wave that Aztlan and others tried to pin on racist anti-immigrant thugs?

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

Wasn't this the crime wave that Aztlan and others tried to pin on racist anti-immigrant thugs?

oops.... latinos kidnapping latinos.....

wonder how much those slaves are going for...

They are just doing the jobs that AMERICANS WON'T DO. Besides, kidnapping isn't in my skill set.

Suspects arrested after immigrants abducted
Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 8, 2007 12:35 PM

Phoenix Police and federal agents on Wednesday night arrested several men suspected of kidnapping undocumented immigrants after officers in a police surveillance helicopter witnessed them run another vehicle off the road and abduct the passengers.

Police were not able to get to the scene in time to stop the kidnapping, but the surveillance team followed the suspects to a drop house.

A Phoenix Police special assignment unit then stormed the house, rescued 15 undocumented immigrants who were then turned over to the federal Immigrations and Custom Enforcement agency, and arrested six suspects.

"This is a very appropriate use of Phoenix Police Department resources in regard to immigration," said Phoenix Public Safety Manager Jack Harris, speaking of recent collaborations between Phoenix Police and ICE investigators. The police department's stated policy, he stressed, is "going after violent criminals that not only prey on the immigrant population, but also endanger the community."

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also participated in the investigation and arrests.

Police identified Pablo Duran Guzman, 27, as the suspected leader of the kidnappers. Also arrested were Jesus Eladio Avena Pina, 26, Alvaro Avena Acuna, 31, Javier Gerardo Perez, 26, Eleo Marin Garcia, 29, and Thomas Castillo Garcia, 29.

Investigators had been watching Guzman since Monday as he apparently cased vehicles traveling along I-10 south of Phoenix.

Wednesday night at about 11 p.m., officers in a Phoenix Police helicopter tracked Guzman and three of the other suspects by air as they drove along I-10 near Warner Road. Their pickup truck rammed another vehicle, forcing it off the exit ramp onto Warner Road. Then the suspects took the 15 victims at gunpoint, forcing them into the bed of the truck.

The helicopter followed the truck to the 3500 block of W. Monterrey Way in Phoenix. A special assignment unit was able to take the house without injuries. Guzman was followed to his apartment in the 2300 block of E. Pinchot St, where he was arrested.

The suspects face counts of kidnapping and weapons violations. Investigators are looking into their possible connection to other recent kidnappings of undocumented immigrants.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... p0308.html

"This is a very appropriate use of Phoenix Police Department resources in regard to immigration,"- Its a crime for crying out loud. The police are supposed to respond to crime!

I just got back from checking the news feed over at Aztlan.net. I see no update or retraction of their allegation that racist anti-immigrant vigilantes were behind these incidents, nor do I see any mention of the Florida kidnapping. They claim to be a totally independent news source - independent from the factual outcomes of the incidents they speculate on, apparently.

6 Charged In Kidnapping Of Illegal Immigrants

POSTED: 1:43 pm MST March 19, 2007
UPDATED: 3:23 pm MST March 19, 2007

PHOENIX -- Six people were charged with 60 felony counts on Monday afternoon, including kidnapping, extortion, armed robbery and misconduct involving weapons, County Attorney Andrew Thomas said.

Thomas announced that Pablo Duran Guzman, Alvara Avena-Acuna, Jesus Avena-Pina, Elio Marin Garcia, Tomas Garcia-Castillo and Javier Gerado Perez-Pastrana were all charged in the multi-felony indictment in association with a number of kidnappings of illegal immigrants who were discovered in February.

Each defendant was charged with 15 counts of armed robbery and 21 counts of both kidnapping and extortion -- all of which are Class 2 dangerous felonies.

Authorities believe that Guzman is the leader of the group and thus charged him with additional felony charges, including participation in a criminal syndicate and misconduct involving weapons, Class 2 and Class 4 felonies, respectively.

Thomas said that the remaining five defendants were all charged with the Class 4 felony assisting a criminal syndicate.

An investigation on Guzman and the others was launched on Feb 19, 2007, after Phoenix police arrested two suspects in the kidnapping and holding of illegal immigrants against their will.

Police said that a confidential informant identified the vehicles of the suspects as belonging to Guzman.

As a result of the tip, Phoenix police, in conjunction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), put Guzman under surveillance, and said they regularly observed him driving up and down stretches of the I-10 south of Phoenix.

Police said that in Guzman's so-called "patrolling," he regularly sped up to over 100 mph and peered into passing vehicles. Police suspected that as he looked into passing cars he was looking for illegal immigrants to abduct.

Authorities surveying Guzman's activities said that on one occasion on March 7, 2007, Guzman used his truck to force another vehicle off the road. The vehicle was reportedly then blocked in by two other cars, whose inhabitants kidnapped the occupants of the blocked-in car at gunpoint.

According to the police who witnessed the event, the entire operation took about 30 to 60 seconds to complete.

Police went to two separate homes associated with the group and said they found 21 illegal immigrants being held against their will while the defendants contacted the relatives of the captive immigrants, demanding ransom money for the release of the victims.

ICE said that the victims were processed as material witnesses while immigration holds were placed on the defendants.

http://www.kpho.com/news/11297955/detai ... o&psp=news