Thread: Illegal kidnapped and taken to Mexico for ransom

Abductors release immigrant
By Karl Fischer

STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 10/13/2007 03:01:05 AM PDT

Kidnappers who snatched an undocumented immigrant from Richmond city streets released the victim in Mexico after his family paid more than $6,000 last weekend, police revealed this week.

The victim, Carlos Rodriguez, called family from Tijuana on Sunday after his father sent $4,000 to his captors. His brother-in-law, with whom he stayed in North Richmond, earlier paid $2,400.

"He said he got beat up pretty badly, but he was otherwise not injured," Richmond police Detective Terry Miles said of Rodriguez, whom police hope to interview if he returns to the region.

Rodriguez, who spent about two weeks in Richmond before his Sept. 28 disappearance, crossed into the country earlier last summer via coyote, a slang term for someone who smuggles Mexican immigrants into the United States. He moved in with his brother-in-law in September to help him sell corn from street carts in Richmond.

The brother-in-law, whom police would not identify for safety reasons, received an anonymous, threatening call on his cell phone Sept. 26: Pay $5,000 or die. The caller backed up his threat by describing the brother-in-law's house and the license plate number of his car.

The brother-in-law explained that he did not have $5,000, and after the stranger called back later in the day, he reported the incident to Richmond police. Two days later, Rodriguez did not come home as expected.

On Sept. 30, the caller phoned again and threatened to kill Rodriguez if his brother-in-law did not
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pay $5,000 via Western Union. The kidnapper then briefly allowed Rodriguez to speak. He said he was in Arizona, and indicated he was in danger.

The brother-in-law sent all the money he could, about $2,400, to an office in Mexico. He trusts Rodriguez, his brother-in-law of nine years, Miles added, and also trusts the coyote who brought him to the country.

One of the cell phone numbers the kidnappers used to call the brother-in-law also was used in a similar case this summer in Sacramento County, Miles said. In that case, someone who paid a coyote to deliver a relative got a call from a stranger demanding more money, or their relative would not make it across the border.

In that case, neither local authorities nor the FBI investigated further because they could not determine whether a crime occurred within the United States, police said.

Last week, Rodriguez's captors called his father, who lives in Mexico, and demanded more money, Miles said. The father sent about $4,000, and Rodriguez called his family Sunday from a hotel in Tijuana.

"He doesn't know where he was held," Miles said. "He said they drove for a long time with him in the trunk of a car, they drove for hours."

Rodriguez was beaten during his captivity. The kidnappers extracted information about his other relatives, resulting in the call to his father.

Richmond police had no previous experience with kidnap-for-ransom cases involving undocumented immigrants, detectives said.

Local police leaned on the FBI for help but still faced significant obstacles to their investigation. They had no picture of the victim, for example, nor any other identifying information. The kidnappers also took their victim far beyond the boundaries of police jurisdiction.

But one thing that went well for investigators was the willingness of the brother-in-law to call local police promptly for help, Miles said.

Police urge anyone victimized by a kidnap-for-ransom plot to call the authorities immediately. Richmond police do not enforce federal immigration law and do not provide information about victims to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Miles said.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@bayareanewsgroup.com.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci ... ck_check=1

The guy who was kidnapped probably paid a coyote to get here illegally in the first place, then he gets kidnapped and taken right back to Mexico! So then his family has to pay yet again to get him back! What poetic justice!!

I bet you the illegal alien kidnap victim will be in Richmond streets in less than a week.


We should tell the kidnappers there are millions more they can take back to Mexico...

The brother-in-law sent all the money he could, about $2,400, to an office in Mexico. He trusts Rodriguez, his brother-in-law of nine years, Miles added, and also trusts the coyote who brought him to the country.

Hmm...not sure I'd put too much trust in that coyote. He was probably in on the kidnapping. Probably got a cut of the ransom money.

The brother-in-law sent all the money he could, about $2,400

You know, this is a perfect example of just how easy it would be to identify illegals and deport them. Just stake out Western Unions on payday.

The father sent about $4,000

How hard is it for a middle class American tax-payer to save up 4,000? This guy just happens to have it lying around to pay off a kidnapper? PUHLEEZE.

Richmond police do not enforce federal immigration law and do not provide information about victims to Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Every Sanctuary city should not receive one penny of Federal funding. Continuing to fund sanctuary's is rewarding illegal behavior.