In a shocking case, four men have been arrested and charged with kidnapping migrants who were smuggled into the U.S., holding them hostage, and demanding ransom from their relatives, U.S. authorities announced on Monday. The men, identified as Miguel Angel Avila, Omar Avila Salmeron, Jose Jaime Garcia, and Gabriel Michel Becerra, allegedly kidnapped four migrants from an Arizona gas station in 2022 and moved them to a house in California. A fifth suspect, Jose Alfredo Moreno Gonzalez, is currently a fugitive.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, the defendants used a phone belonging to one of the hostages to contact the victims’ relatives, demanding money in exchange for their release. The migrants were held hostage, and three of them were later transferred to a motel. One of the victims managed to escape through a second-story bathroom window but was violently recaptured by one of the suspects, who “body-slammed” the victim and attempted to re-kidnap him.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty following their arraignment. In one incident, three of the suspects took one of the hostages to a gas station, where they received $11,000 in cash from the victim’s brother in exchange for the hostage’s release.
The U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Martin Estrada, condemned the actions of the defendants, stating that they preyed on vulnerable individuals seeking a better life in the United States. Kidnappings like these have become a growing issue, with migrants frequently targeted by gangs and cartels in both Mexico and the U.S.