statesman.com
By Patrick George
Thursday, January 5, 2012, 11:19 AM

An arrest warrant has been issued for another man who police say took part in an October human smuggling case where several immigrants were being held against their will by “coyotes” in an East Austin home.

Roger Maradigga-Sorto, also known as Roger Alfonso Maradigga, has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and the smuggling of persons, according to an arrest affidavit. He is not in custody, police Cmdr. Donald Baker said.

Maradigga-Sorto’s charges are related to an Oct. 16 incident where a woman called police and said her husband was being held captive by border smugglers until he paid them $1,800. When officers arrived at a home in the 6400 block of Johnny Morris Road, they found several men held there, police have said.

One of the victims told investigators there were 15 men being held at the house, the affidavit said. Police have said they were from Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. The men were brought across the border and held at gunpoint until their families paid for their release, the affidavit said.

When investigators searched the house on Johnny Morris Road, they found several receipts for wire transfers of money. Maradigga-Sorto and another man, Juan Carlos Pedraza, were the recipients of those transfers, the affidavit said.

Pedraza was arrested in November on several charges, including aggravated kidnapping, jail records show. When he was questioned by police, he said Maradigga-Sorto had the lease on the house. They and two other men, including suspected ringleader Fernando Sandoval Salazar, all lived there, the affidavit said. Salazar is also in custody.

Pedraza said the four men would make trips to the U.S.-Mexico border to pick up and transport illegal immigrants for money, the affidavit said. They then held them until fees were paid for their release, the affidavit said.

Baker, who oversees the Austin Police Department’s organized crime efforts, said authorities are currently searching for Maradigga-Sorto.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...xtype=rss_news