Greedy cartels are holding migrants for $10K ransom in stash houses after crossing

[Kamaji]

Greedy cartels are holding migrants for $10K ransom in stash houses after crossing

By Isabel Vincent
July 13, 2022

Smugglers who charge migrants thousands to slip into the US from Mexico are increasingly holding them for ransom — as much as $10,000 — once they cross the border, according to federal authorities.

In the past week, the FBI rescued 24 migrant victims of extortion from stash houses “living in deplorable conditions,” Jeffrey Downey, the FBI’s special agent in charge in El Paso, told The Post. The bureau also made two related arrests in the El Paso area.

Since February, the FBI, working with Border Patrol agents, have rescued 88 migrants caught up in extortion rackets and being held captive in “stash houses” near El Paso, Texas: squalid, often abandoned buildings where human traffickers cram dozens of people in “life-threatening” conditions.

During the previous year, the FBI had documented no instances of such extortion in the region, said Downey.

“They have already paid upfront to cross the border,” Downey said of the new trend. “And then once they get here, they are assaulted and held in life-threatening situations.”

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/07/13/cartels-hold-migrants-for-10k-ransom-after-crossing-us-border/