Two illegal Honduran immigrants living in New Mexico have been indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap other immigrants and extort ransoms from their families, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced Monday.
According to prosecutors, Darwin Geovani Palma Pastrana, 30, and Eduard Israel Sauceda Nunez, 25, both of Albuquerque, are accused of driving migrants who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to “safe houses” in several southern cities, including Phoenix, Arizona, El Paso and Albuquerque, Texas. said.
Once in these safe houses, migrants' mobile phones are confiscated and they are told they must pay money to their families if they want to be released.
Law enforcement officials found 57 migrants in a home in Albuquerque.
“Palma and his accomplices lived near the hiding place and stored large amounts of cash and firearms while Sauceda and other co-conspirators took the migrants to various locations, including Los Angeles, to reunite them with family and friends,” prosecutors said.
Palma, who was arrested Aug. 21 and charged with conspiracy, kidnapping, interstate communication with ransom demand or solicitation and blackmail by interstate communication, pleaded not guilty after his arraignment in Riverside, California, on Friday.
Sauceda, who is currently on the run from law enforcement, is charged with conspiracy, kidnapping, interstate communications containing a ransom demand or solicitation, and one count of transporting a foreign national within the United States for personal financial gain.
Prosecutors released some details of the charges but did not explain how Sauceda became a fugitive after his arrest.
Specifically, on April 1, Palma told Sauceda that one of the victims, a Guatemalan national who had illegally entered the United States from Mexico, would have to pay $1,500 before he could be released to his family. Sauceda then contacted the victim's family to [meet at] In the parking lot of a Jack in the Box restaurant in Norwalk, Sauceda locked the victim in his car and demanded a $1,500 ransom from the victim's relatives before leaving the victim in the car and fleeing.
Later that day, Palma contacted the victim's relatives and told them that unless they paid $1,500, he would send the victim back to Mexico, implying that he would kill the victim there. Sauceda then returned to the Jack in the Box parking lot, believing that the victim's relatives would pay the ransom. However, nearby police officers pulled over the car and arrested Sauceda. After being stopped, Sauceda placed approximately $9,290 in cash in the center console of his car, along with receipts for wire transfers to individuals outside the United States, before being arrested. On April 2, Palma sent a WhatsApp message to the victim's relatives, threatening to kill them.
If convicted, the two alleged co-conspirators face the maximum sentence under the statute. Statement Life in a federal prison USA Today.
“The defendants allegedly facilitated the smuggling of migrants and then exploited them, including by demanding ransoms in exchange for the victims' release,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “We will use our strong tools to hold accountable those who use violence to profit from vulnerable victims.”
“Anyone who is the victim of a serious crime in this country is protected by United States law, and this case is no exception,” said Akil Davis, Deputy Director of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. “The exploitation of vulnerable people and their families will be thoroughly investigated by the FBI and its law enforcement partners. Eduar Israel Sauceda Nunez remains wanted for this crime and anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI or the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.”
