Officials: Matamoros operation leads to rescue of 17 people

May 04, 2010 9:44 PM
THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Mexican authorities announced the successful rescue of 17 kidnapping victims — who have family in the United States — from two houses in Matamoros.

According to a press release by the Mexican navy, on Monday morning, marines rescued the victims and also arrested a man accused of guarding one of the two houses, both in the Puerto Rico neighborhood. The operation also resulted in the seizure of approximately 11 pounds of marijuana, as well as an AK-47 assault rifle.

Juan Ponce Ramirez, the alleged guard of the stash house, was turned over to Mexico’s attorney general’s office for further investigation and prosecution, the release stated.

Details of the operation or the block address of the houses were not disclosed by the navy.

The marines arrived at one of the houses, after an intelligence gathering operation by the Mexican navy confirmed that a house in Matamoros was being used as a stash house for a criminal organization and that kidnapping victims were being kept there, the release stated.

When the marines raided the house, they fought with and later arrested Ponce and in the process rescued 11 individuals who stated they were being held for ransom, the navy said.

After the raid on the first house, the marines received information that six other kidnapping victims were being held in a nearby house and rescued them as well.

The majority of the victims have relatives in the U.S. who were being extorted through telephone calls, the release states.

"According to our initial reports, the family members of the kidnapping victims deposited various amounts of money in order to ensure their well-being and what they hoped would be their future release," navy officials said.

As of press time Tuesday night, it couldn’t be officially confirmed if the stash house belonged to the Zeta criminal organization or to the Gulf Cartel.

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