Rantburg.com
A total of 23 migrants heading to the US were rescued Wednesday by a Mexican security forces in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamauliupas, according to Mexican news accounts.
According to a news report which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, a Base de Operaciones Mixtas (BOM) group of state and federal security units found the migrants Tuesday at a residence under construction in Constitucional colony in the city.
Some of the victims told authorities that they were waiting to be released by their captors after their families paid tribute.
Local Mexican criminal gangs routinely kidnap migrants heading to the US and hold them until tribute can be paid. If they refuse or money can't be raised, the victims are executed. The worse example of this practice took place three years ago August in San Fernando municipality when a local Los Zetas group demanded tribute be paid from a group of migrants they were holding, but were rebuffed. The San Fernando gang executed 72.
The migrants in the Nuevo Laredo group rescued were from Mexico and from central America nations including seven from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
Two suspects were detained at the scene and a Ford Expedition SUV was seized. The suspects were identified in a separate news release posted on the official news site for Tamaulipas state as Julio Cesar Garza Ibarra, 41, and Juan Pablo Rincon Magaña, 33
Meanwhile near Matamoros, three armed suspects were shot to death when they encountered a Mexican Army road patrol.
According to a separate news report in El Diario de Coahuila, the suspects were traveling aboard a Chevrolet Suburban SUV along the Matamoros to Reynosa highway when they were signaled by the patrol to stop at around 1315 hrs. The patrol was fired on by the suspects. Army return fire hit the suspects, killing them.
Also in Tamaulipas in the central section of the state, a Base de Operaciones Mixtas (BOM) group detained three unidentified armed suspects said to have been involved in shootings in the area.
The arrests took place along the road between Villagran and Magueyes. The security force also seized two rifles, a revolver and several balaclavas.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com