Five men pleaded not guilty to a kidnapping charge in Superior Court in San Diego on Wednesday. Prosecutors say the men are part of a sophisticated and well-funded kidnap-for-ransom operation. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Amador says the men kidnapped 32-year-old Eduardo Gonzalez Tostado on June 8th.
Amador says they held Gonzalez at a home in Chula Vista until last Saturday when an FBI swat team rescued him.
Amador says the kidnappers demanded ransom. The victim's family paid $200,000.
Amador says law enforcement agents found guns, drugs, and chains at the home where the victim was.
A superior court judge ordered the five men held without bail based in part on the prosecution's concern that the kidnappers' co-conspirators remain at large.
Amador says the kidnap and murder crew has operated for a few years.
All but one of the men who were arraigned required Spanish interpreters.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.