Two Honduran illegal migrants living in New Mexico have been charged for allegedly conspiring to kidnap other migrants to extort their families for ransom, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Monday.
Darwin Jeovany Palma Pastrana, 30, and Eduar Isrrael Sauceda Nuñez, 25, both of Albuquerque, are accused of driving migrants who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to “stash houses” across multiple southern cities including Phoenix, Arizona; El Paso, Texas; and Albuquerque, prosecutors said.
Once put in these stash houses, the migrants’ cell phones would be taken and they were told that their families would need to fork over money if they wanted to be free.
Law enforcement officials discovered 57 migrants in a singular Albuquerque house.
“Palma and his accomplices lived near the stash houses and kept large sums of cash and firearms available. Sauceda and other co-conspirators drove migrants to various locations, including Los Angeles, to reunite them with their family and friends,” prosecutors said.
Palma, who was arrested on August 21 and charged with conspiracy, kidnapping, interstate communication containing a demand or request for ransom, and making a threat by interstate communication, pleaded not guilty after being arraigned Friday in Riverside, California.
Sauceda, who is currently on the run from law enforcement, is charged with conspiracy, kidnapping, interstate communication containing a demand or request for ransom, and one count of transportation of aliens within the U.S. for private financial gain.
Prosecutors gave details of some of the alleged crimes, but did not explain how Sauceda became a fugitive after initially being arrested:
Specifically, on April 1, Palma told Sauceda that one victim, a Guatemalan national who had entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico, that he had to pay $1,500 before being released to his family. Sauceda then ordered the victim to contact a family member to [meet at] a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot in Norwalk. At this parking lot meeting, Sauceda locked the victim inside the car and demanded a $1,500 ransom payment from the victim’s relative before driving away with the victim inside the car.
Later that day, Palma contacted the victim’s relative and said unless $1,500 was paid, the victim would be returned to Mexico and Palma suggested the victim would be killed there. Sauceda then returned to the Jack in the Box parking lot, believing the victim’s relative would pay the ransom. Instead, law enforcement was nearby and later pulled over and arrested Sauceda. As he was being pulled over, Sauceda placed approximately $9,290 in cash, as well as receipts memorializing money transfers to individuals outside of the United States, in the center console of his car before he was arrested. On April 2, Palma sent messages via WhatsApp to the victim’s relative, threatening to kill her.
If convicted, both alleged co-conspirators face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, according to USA Today.
“These defendants allegedly helped to smuggle migrants and then take advantage of them by demanding ransom from the victims’ families to secure their release,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “We will use our powerful tools to hold accountable those who use violence to profit off of vulnerable victims.”
“Everyone in this country who is a victim of a serious crime is protected by U.S. law and this case is no exception,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “The exploitation of vulnerable individuals and their families will be fully investigated by the FBI and its law enforcement partners. Eduar Isrrael Sauceda Nuñez is still wanted for this crime, and we ask that anyone with information as to his whereabouts to contact the FBI or the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.”
