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Public Safety

Mexican Authorities Investigate Migrant Kidnapping Ring

Mexican Authorities Investigate Migrant Kidnapping Ring
Mexican authorities say they arrested a group of kidnappers who've nabbed more than 100 migrants trying to cross the border illegally into the United States. Mexican authorities say they're probing the group's ties to the murder of a Border Patrol agent last year.

Mexican authorities say they arrested a group of kidnappers who've nabbed more than 100 migrants trying to cross the border illegally into the United States. Mexican authorities say they're probing the group's ties to the murder of a Border Patrol agent last year.

The eight alleged kidnappers told Baja California investigators that, for the last year and a half, they've targeted migrants in the hills beside the Tecate toll road.

Mexican authorities say that's where they spotted the group Monday. They were armed and had taken a group of migrants hostage.

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Mexican law enforcement swooped in. They say the kidnappers shot at them.

Authorities say they rescued 17 migrants. Four kidnappers remain at large.

Investigators with Baja California's Attorney General's office say the group would call their victims' families to demand a $2,000 ransom.

Mexican authorities say they're testing the group's guns to see if they're tied to the murder of U.S Border Patrol agent Robert Rosas. Rosas was killed while on patrol near Campo last summer. Authorities say two people remain at large in Mexico.

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