Posted on 12/01/2006 9:32:15 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
Businessman lives in fear after being snatched for status — not drugs
EDINBURG — Uriel de Alba hasn’t been himself since he was kidnapped last month.
The owner and namesake of De Alba Tortilla Factory and Bakery was taken from his home Nov. 7 and released in the early morning of Nov. 8, after an undisclosed amount of money was paid to his kidnappers.
Since then, Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies have arrested two of his seven suspected kidnappers, who allegedly targeted at least three other businessmen for future abductions.
But with five of de Alba’s suspected kidnappers still on the loose, he is always on alert. He carries what he says is a properly licensed weapon.
And for an interview with reporters from The Monitor and La Frontera, he asked to meet at a gas station, then escorted them to his ranch.
"I cannot sleep, I cannot eat," the 57-year-old said in Spanish. "I’m just watching everybody. I don’t even trust the people who work for me."
De Alba would not discuss all the details of his kidnapping, but said he was taken from his ranch and shoved at gunpoint into a GMC Yukon the night of Nov. 7. He was tied up and blindfolded for about 10 hours before his friends pooled together the ransom money that secured his release. The ransom money’s amount is one of the details he declined to share.
Sheriff’s deputies conducted an extensive manhunt for de Alba’s kidnappers Nov. 8, but did not arrest any of them.
By the middle of November, they had arrested Vicente Gutierrez Jr., 18, and a 15-year-old whose name was not released because of his age. Deputies are also looking to arrest Antonio Castillo, 18, and Jose Antonio Armanderiz, 23, along with three other people whose names have not been released.
"I’m out there working, trying to earn my money, and those teens are out there, watching where you go, watching when you come back, what you are driving — just to harm you," said de Alba, who came to the United States from Mexico in 1978 and owns stores bearing his name in McAllen, Mission and Pharr.
Some say de Alba’s kidnapping, though highly unusual, is a cautionary story for the Rio Grande Valley’s middle and upper classes.
"They’re done with drugs," de Alba said. "Now they’re kidnapping businessmen, working men, and telling them that they will harm their grandchildren."
But Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said de Alba’s kidnapping, though harrowing, does not indicate a growing trend. The kidnapping may be the only one investigated by sheriff’s deputies since January 2004 in which the victim did not have a relationship with his or her abductors, Treviño said.
"All the rest are drug-related or there is a family relationship," Treviño said of the 78 kidnappings investigated by his department in almost three years.
Treviño said someone carrying a large amount of money should not show it — in the days before de Alba’s kidnapping, he and the other targeted businessmen were seen displaying cash at local race tracks. Treviño also urged Valley residents to maintain vigilance as they shop this holiday season.
"I’m not asking people to be super paranoid," he said. "Just be aware of your surroundings."
Among the Valley’s middle- and upper-class families, there’s not a lot of concern about kidnappings, said Nati Guerrero, manager of National Security Services, a McAllen-based firm that offers private security for families and businesses.
"I don’t see why people here would need a bodyguard, unless they’re a musician," Guerrero said.
That’s what de Alba thought, too.
He is proud of his achievements, yet angered that his prominence and success have indirectly inflicted such trauma.
"Usually, we hear that these things happen to those who are doing bad things," de Alba said. "But now we know that’s not always the case."
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La Frontera staff writer Martha Leticia Hernandez contributed to this report.
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Michael Barnett covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4447. For this and more local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.
Valle Ping!
The U.S. Border Patrol won't even protect their own agents from drug runners. Ask Agents Ramos and Campeon!!
The rot in our government is smelling up America.
I must admit, Janet, you have a way with words. LOL
That travesty! Unbelievable. I've sent mail, and called. To no avail. Bush should issue full pardons, reinstate them and pay them the back pay.
Bet you don't get a "Holiday" card from the White House next month!(/s)
http://www.grassfire.org/142/petition.asp
I've passed this along to everyone I know, hope you will too!
Signed!
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