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It should have been a day of joy. Mexican authorities on Monday said they rescued 44 hostages in what one kidnapping expert described as the largest such operation he's ever seen in the country.
But in Nuevo Laredo, where matters of criminal justice are rarely clean and simple, it wasn't clear late Monday whether the hostages were innocent victims held for ransom, drug gang members captured by rivals or unlucky migrants caught before they were able to cross into Texas.
Hostages rescued Sunday told authorities they had been kidnapped by municipal police or by Zetas, former soldiers who now act as enforcers for the Gulf drug cartel, Deputy Public Safety Secretary Rafael Rios said.
Agents on Sunday also arrested three suspects and seized two vehicles with Texas license plates, two machine guns, ammunition and a bag of marijuana.
The victims included at least seven teenagers, some as young as 14 or 15 years old, according to Nuevo Laredo newspaper reports. Many were handcuffed and had duct tape covering their eyes when they were rescued. Some were clad only in underwear. At least 10 required medical care, including one man who appeared to have been tortured.
Hundreds of police and soldiers continued sweeping through town on Monday looking for additional victims.
http://www.quickdfw.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/062805dnintlaredo.509e2d72.html
But in Nuevo Laredo, where matters of criminal justice are rarely clean and simple, it wasn't clear late Monday whether the hostages were innocent victims held for ransom, drug gang members captured by rivals or unlucky migrants caught before they were able to cross into Texas.
Hostages rescued Sunday told authorities they had been kidnapped by municipal police or by Zetas, former soldiers who now act as enforcers for the Gulf drug cartel, Deputy Public Safety Secretary Rafael Rios said.
Agents on Sunday also arrested three suspects and seized two vehicles with Texas license plates, two machine guns, ammunition and a bag of marijuana.
The victims included at least seven teenagers, some as young as 14 or 15 years old, according to Nuevo Laredo newspaper reports. Many were handcuffed and had duct tape covering their eyes when they were rescued. Some were clad only in underwear. At least 10 required medical care, including one man who appeared to have been tortured.
Hundreds of police and soldiers continued sweeping through town on Monday looking for additional victims.
http://www.quickdfw.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/062805dnintlaredo.509e2d72.html
