Human Smugglers Accused of Kidnapping Migrants in Mexican Border City

Authorities arrested two human smugglers in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, on kidnapping charges following the rescue of two migrants who were being held for ransom.

The incident took place this week when agents with the Coahuila Attorney General’s Investigation Police raided a house near Piedras Negras where two migrants from Honduras were being held against their will. According to authorities, the human smugglers were demanding that their relatives wire them $2,000 to release them.

At the time of the raid, authorities arrested two men identified only as Braulio N. and Felipe N., who remain in custody on kidnapping charges, awaiting further hearings in connection with the case. At the time of the raid, authorities detained two other individuals who have since been released on a technicality.

The arrests come as northern Coahuila continues to be one of the favored routes used by human smugglers to move migrants and asylum seekers into Texas. In the city of Piedras Negras, there are over a dozen independent human smuggling groups that operate in the region.

While human smuggling is a federal offense in Mexico, federal authorities and military forces rarely crack down on those organizations. In the case of state authorities, since human smuggling is not part of state law, they can only go after them when other crimes are committed against migrants, such as kidnapping, rape, or abuse.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.M. Martinez” and C.E. Herrera, from Coahuila.