Kidnapping ring similar to scams south of border: Houston police charge 3 suspects with shaking down Hispanic victims
Houston police announced Wednesday the discovery of a kidnapping and robbery operation in which unsuspecting people were snatched and held hostage until their relatives paid ransoms of a few thousand dollars.
While the actions of the ring mirror random kidnappings that have plagued Mexico and other Latin American nations for years, police said they have no evidence to suggest the Houston ring is connected to organized-crime groups in other countries. But experts familiar with so called “express kidnappings” taking place just south of the border said the Texas operation appears similar.
“It seems like it’s reaching Houston,” said Nestor Rodriguez, a University of Houston sociologist. “The question is: ‘Is this going to be a pattern, or is it just one group?'”
Police said Elionay Pena, 47, Ricardo Patino, 24 and Jose Alberto Martinez, 19, are charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery. They are being held in the Harris County Jail with no bail set.Pena, Patino and Martinez are probably part of a larger local group primarily targeting Spanish-speaking victims who may be wary about reporting what happened, police said.
The men were arrested July 6 after one of their victims escaped, police said. The man, unidentified by police, had been waiting at a bus stop on South Gessner near the Katy Freeway service road on July 3 when four men — including the three who were later arrested — approached and forced him inside a waiting pickup, police said.
He told police that another hostage — who had been grabbed earlier — was in the truck.
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