FBI reports abduction spike for Hidalgo, Starr counties
Comments 12
May 01, 2010 4:14 AM
Jeremy Roebuck

McALLEN — Kidnapping cases in Hidalgo and Starr counties nearly quadrupled in 2009 from the year before, FBI officials said Friday.

In all, 42 people were abducted from the area during the fiscal year that ended September — 31 more than in 2008 and 15 more than the FBI investigated in Laredo during the height of a 2005 war between two sparring drug cartels.

Much of that increase can be attributed to drug-related activity and a late 2008 kidnapping campaign organized to expand the Zeta’s influence in the Rio Grande Valley, said Jorge Cisneros, spokesman for the bureau’s McAllen office.

“You crack down on the illegal drug smuggling, human trafficking and bulk cash shipments and the (drug cartels) have to get more aggressive in protecting their money,â€