Thread: Smuggling-related Kidnappings on the rise in Phoenix

Tucson Citizen
Smuggling-related kidnappings on the rise in Phoenix
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.
Police soon realize her family is holding something back and isn't fully cooperating with them. Later, investigators find out 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.

Rest of article....
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/73914

The abductions are occurring in the Phoenix area at the rate of practically one per day





This is no exaggeration and I'd hazard that the number is even higher.

I live an hour from Phoenix and there's been cases like this we started hearing about two years ago but it seems to be occuring much more frequently lately.

I can only imagine how many go unreported and it's scary business.