Posted on 01/10/2007 11:01:25 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
NUEVO LAREDO – Federal police and Mexican soldiers rescued a Laredo musician and three Nuevo Laredoan teens in an early-morning raid Tuesday that also netted the arrests of two men, accused of kidnapping as well as drug and gun possession.Héctor de Jesús Domínguez, 27, a Mexican citizen who is a legal resident of Laredo, as well as three Nuevo Laredo youths, ages 17, 16 and 15, were kidnapped over the weekend, according to the federal attorney general’s office.
They were found inside what is believed to be a safe house in the southern part of the city, officials said. All four had been beaten.
Pablo González Flores, 32, and Angel Javier Ramón Pinto, 18, were arrested at the house in the 8600 block of Independencia in the Alianza neighborhood.
A citizen’s tip led police to the site, officials said at a news conference, and officers descended on the place at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. As they arrived, they could hear yelling from inside the house, prompting the officers to enter the residence.
Police said the two arrested men were caught as they were trying to flee.
The safe house was protected with barred gates and high walls that didn’t allow observation inside the grounds.
Neighbors said they were surprised when noises woke them up in the pre-dawn hours and they looked outside to see federal patrol and assault vehicles surrounding the area, moving into the interior of the house. One young woman said she would never have imagined that anyone was locked up inside the house against his or her will.
After making the rescue and arrests, Army soldiers and federal police went through the grounds. They recovered four vehicles: two in a garage and two in front of the house. Officers also reported finding about 50 grams of marijuana and a .45 caliber pistol.
The four victims and two suspects were taken to the attorney general’s investigative offices to give their statements.
Discovering that one of the kidnapped men had a Laredo address, an official from the U.S. Consul in Nuevo Laredo spoke with the Mexican federal authorities to determine whether consulate services were required. But the U.S. official was told that the man was a Mexican citizen.
Dominguez, a musician, is a native Mexican who lives in Laredo, but sometimes works in Nuevo Laredo.
The four kidnap victims were taken from different parts of the city, police officials said, including a family member’s home and straight off the street.
Other details about Dominguez or the other three victims were not known Tuesday night. One official said at least one of the Nuevo Laredo men was married.
Police said the victims could not say why they were kidnapped, and it was unclear whether ransom had already been sought. Police did say that none of the four men had been reported missing. That’s not uncommon; family members who get ransom demands often are warned not to call police on threat of death.
The two suspects are expected to be taken to Mexico City by air for further interrogation in a high-security federal facility. While they are in Nuevo Laredo, the suspects were in the custody of AFI, the Mexican equivalent of the FBI.
All four victims will remain under the protection of the federal attorney general’s office until the preliminary investigation is completed and the case is forwarded, according to an agent with the office.
Federal police encouraged citizens to continue supporting authorities and reporting crimes as part of an overall effort to fight illegal activity.
(To reach Miguel Timoshenkov, call (956) 728-2583 or e-mail timo1@lmtonline. com)
Los dos Laredos Ping!
If you want on or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepmail me.
Whatever happened to the Mexican businessman who was kidnapped with the TX hunters? Was he ever freed? I remember seeing his brother on television asking the kidnappers to contact him so he could pay it.
Laredo kidnapping victim is released [in Mexico]
Express-News Border Bureau ^ | 12/18/2006 | Mariano Castillo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1755346/posts
Thanks SS,
I saw in another article I googled on Pina, and his fellow kidnappees this statement:
The FBI is very relieved about the successful resolution to this kidnapping, however, we also note that it is punctuated by the issue of the 27 missing Americans who are still unaccounted for in Mexico.
These kidnappings seem to happen with regularity. Are these just common criminals looking to make a quick peso or is there something more sinister going on? Cartels, hushmoney, etc.....
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