Thread: TX - Teen immigrant held for more money found safe

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | Updated: Wednesday, September 19, 2012 10:23pm
chron.com

Federal agents recovered a teenage girl from Nicaragua who was being held by smugglers demanding additional money from her family.

"She's in our custody now. She'll be interviewed and medically screened," said Greg Palmore with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents on Wednesday also raided a home in southwest Houston where the girl, Hidalma Centeno, 16, had been kept captive along with more than 80 other people.

Centeno was supposed to have been released to her family Tuesday afternoon in a grocery store parking lot along Westheimer near Dairy Ashford.

Her mother, Amparo Centeno, had already paid smugglers more than $6,000 to have Hidalma brought from Nicaragua to the United States.

But once the final $1,700 payment was wired to Jalisco in central Mexico, the traffickers holding Hidalma in Houston said they now wanted an extra $1,700 in cash.

Mother called HPD

Amparo Centeno didn't have the money for the last-minute demands and called Houston police. HPD officers interviewed the mother and made a report but then forwarded the case to ICE because it was an immigration matter.

About 5 p.m. Wednesday, federal agents tracked down two members of the group holding Centeno and persuaded them to bring her to a parking lot along Interstate 10 near Gessner.

"At that time, we were able to take everybody into custody," Palmore said.

Hidalma did not appear to have any physical injuries and was later reunited with relatives, officials said.

Agents on Wednesday also located the three-bedroom house in the 3400 block of Boxelder Drive where the teen was held. It is about three miles from the supermarket parking lot where she was to have been reunited with her mother.

83 held in house

Along with two more suspected smugglers, the ICE agents found 83 people being held inside the house - 16 adult women, nine juveniles and the rest adult men, officials said.

"All the individuals were in their underwear - no shoes and no clothing," Palmore said.

Human traffickers often order those being smuggled into the U.S. to strip so they will be less likely to run away, officials said.

Agents also uncovered several firearms, including handguns, a Tec-9 semi-automatic pistol and a rifle.

The people found inside the house will be taken to a detention facility for interviews and a determination of their immigration status.

Teen immigrant held for more money found safe - Houston Chronicle

Along with two more suspected smugglers, the ICE agents found 83 people being held inside the house - 16 adult women, nine juveniles and the rest adult men, officials said.

They are really moving those kids they left behind into the country now. I would bet that every one of the 83 were under the age of 31. They have to get here and get their fake documents for Obamnasty .JMO