Kidnapping group arrested in Tijuana

Accused of extorting thousands of dollars from would-be migrants

Por: Omar Millán 9 Marzo 2011 @ 3:53 pm
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Tijuana – Three family members have been arrested and charged with kidnapping and extorting people who believed them to be smugglers who would cross them into the United States.

This case, announced Tuesday by the state Attorney General’s Office, provides a glimpse of how criminal groups are preying on people desperate to immigrate.

The three suspects were identified as Ruperto León Bravo, 50, and his sons, Juan Carlos and Luis Bernardo León Bernal, 18 and 23 años, respectively.

They were accused of kidnapping, beating and extorting money from at least two people who are from Mexico City and the state of Michoacán.

They are the third criminal group of this type that authorities have arrested in the last four months, resulting in a total of 12 people being freed, the State Attorney General’s office announced.

The latest case involves events that occurred in November. León Bravo, who allegedly pretended to be a smuggler of would-be undocumented immigrants, contacted two people in downtown Tijuana who said they

had recently arrived and wanted to cross into the United States.

The “smugglerâ€