Sheriff Says Kidnapping Ring From Mexico Is Highly Trained

Posted: Apr 2, 2012 6:35 PM
Updated: Apr 2, 2012 6:46 PM

HIDALGO COUNTY - A Hidalgo County man who was the victim of a kidnapping could already be in Mexico. Investigators in Hidalgo County believe he's the latest victim of a highly trained kidnapping ring.

Hidalgo County investigators believe there's a group of professional kidnappers out there, and they're good at what they do.

A scorched mini-van is all the sheriff's department has to go on in the case of Armando Morfin right now.

"The reason the suspects burned the vehicle is because you're actually burning all the trace evidence that was left behind," says Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño.

The 40-year-old was abducted from his home off FM 493 Friday. Investigators think Morfin was immediately taken to Mexico, his van left to burn less than two miles from his home.

"They tied up the victim's wife, the children. They waited for him. The victim gets home, they kidnap him, they extract him in a matter of minutes," says Trevino.

The accuracy of the kidnapping means something to Treviño and his investigators. The three men seemed highly trained and knew how to get their man.

"It was a highly trained, very precise extraction team. They went in wearing green military uniforms, the green masks the military and some police officers use," says Trevino.

Treviño says this wasn't a random abduction. Morfin served time for drug possession charges. That could have made him a target.

"It is alarming to us, and it should be alarming to everybody, that there's teams, highly trained, precise teams getting hired to make just this," says Trevino.

Hope of finding Morfin alive is slowly fading.

"There's a rule in CSI that states, when you walk into a place you always leave something. And when you leave you always take something with you," says Trevino.

His fate rests on the evidence pulled from this van. The sheriff couldn't say what evidence was pulled from the burnt van fearing it would jeopardize the investigation. He did say he needs your help tonight.

If you have any information on Morfin and his whereabouts, call Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers at 956-668-TIPS or your nearest police department.

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