Police investigating purported Zeta kidnapping
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April 26, 2009 - 7:47 PM
By Ana Ley

DONNA - Police are investigating a kidnapping purportedly carried out in Reynosa by members of Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's enforcement wing.

A Donna woman reportedly told police she received several phone calls from suspects claiming to be members of Los Zetas a week after her son was kidnapped in Reynosa during a trip to Diaz Ordaz.

The woman called police from her home on April 19 only after the men grew impatient and threatened to kidnap her other son if she did not pay a ransom soon for the victim's release, police records show.

The woman told police the men wanted $4,000 or a truck in return for her son's release, the records state. She told police she was trying to gather enough money to meet the group's demand.

Police interviewed her other son, who told officers he had also received threatening phone calls but that he initially "thought they were playing with him."

The man reportedly told police he feared for his life because the group was under orders from Heriberto Lazcano, the purported top leader of Los Zetas.

According to police records, the man told officers "these people will find you anywhere if you try to hide" when asked if he had somewhere safe to stay. He told police the organization "already had people in the area" looking for him.

Officers arrested four men this weekend in connection with the kidnapping, but it remained unclear what involvement, if any, they have with Los Zetas.

Daniel Garza, Leonel Garza III, Enrique Amaro Sanchez and Miguel Marin Cerda were charged in Mis-sion Municipal Court with aggravated assault and engaging in an organized criminal act.

They denied any affiliation with the criminal gang at their arraignment Saturday afternoon.

Leonel Garza seemed to believe police had mistakenly linked him to Los Zetas as a result of his body art.

"It's because of my tattoos," he said in Spanish, gesturing toward the image of a female devil on his left arm. "The cops don't know anything."

The men allegedly drove up to Carlos Hernandez and Enrique Dominguez and fired inside their vehi-cle, a police affidavit states.

Hernandez and Dominguez called police Wednesday evening after they noticed three vehicles were following them along Expressway 83 in Mission, according to the document. The duo was traveling in a red Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck when officers pulled over a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria that ap-peared to be following them.

While the officers interviewed the Crown Victoria occupants Daniel Garza and Amaro, dispatchers no-tified the officers that the Avalanche had been involved in a wreck a few blocks away.

Daniel Garza and Amaro were carrying $2,840 in cash, according to the affidavit. Hernandez and Dom-inguez told police a black truck had also been following them and that a passenger inside it had fired at them.

Police eventually found the truck - a black Dodge Ram - and arrested two occupants: Leonel Garza and Marin.

Marin admitted to firing a shot in the air from his 9 mm handgun and told police Leonel Garza drove the truck alongside the victims' vehicle on the 700 block of South Los Ebanos Road in Mission, according to the affidavit.

A cartridge casing and a handgun were recovered from that location.

Investigators later determined that Daniel Garza and Leonel Garza are siblings.

The four men face two charges each of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of engaging in an organized criminal act.

The former is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction.

Judge Horacio Peña granted each of the Garza brothers a $75,000 bond. The judge doubled Amaro and Marin's bond amounts because they are both illegal immigrants.

All four remained at the Hidalgo County Jail on Saturday evening.

The Garza brothers have been previously convicted for marijuana possession. Marin was found guilty of theft in 2004.

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