(The initial reports of the alleged extortion racket against asylum seekers by two Colombian suspects first appeared in Enrique Lerma's KRGV.com-5News report. Law Enforcement and Cameron County District Attorney investigators confirmed that the scam was operating with the apparent collusion with unknown individuals inside the Brownsville Welcoming Center across Adams Street from the Multimodal Transportation/Brownsville Metro terminal. Access to that center is highly restricted, but somehow, the alleged extortionists had access to the list of asylum seekers generated by the center and refugee advocates who assist them to travel on to their destinations.)
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
In a midnight raid yesterday in Brownsville, federal agents from the Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security assisted the Cameron County District Attorney in the rescue of a group of immigrants temporarily allowed to stay in the country who were victims of kidnapping and extortion.
Prosecutor Luis Sáenz confirmed to RGV News about the rescue of a group of people who remained against their will in a residence located a short distance from the care center for immigrant asylum seekers in Brownsville.
(Initial investigations indicate that the Cameron County Appraisal District lists that residence owner as Arturo Treviño, allegedly the owner of Los Trevis Drive-Thru, but it is unknown whether"Turi" had any knowledge of the criminal activities that were taking place there.)
Sáenz said that two people who posed as immigration agents threatened to deport them to their country, extorting their victims. They allegedly had a list of the asylum seekers that had been generated at the welcoming center.
"We already know what is happening and we are conducting the investigations," Sáenz said. "We bring the profiles of certain people that we are watching and we hope to continue with the investigations to reach a result. We are not going to allow people from here on this side to take advantage of people that come here under legal protection and are abused," Sáenz said.
According to one of the surviving victims with whom Lerma spoke, she was taken from the city's welcome center facility in Brownsville where unidentified municipal employees offered them free transfer to residences that looked like shelters in deplorable conditions where they were kept kidnapped until they paid.
"The people who sent me with them were from the city, and I said okay, they are from the city and since they said they were from immigration, they were the ones who were calling my family and everything, I didn't believe they were immigration and I didn't think that they were sending me with some people, but now I see that they were," explained the migrant, Wendy Coronado.
The way these alleged kidnappers operate, Wendy explains, is that they established a fee of $90 a day for their stay in that house and since they did not have money on their person to pay them, they began to call their relatives.
"I felt like I was going to have to pay that money and if I couldn't pay that they told me that I had to work here and that I couldn't go to my destination," added Coronado.
During the rescue of Wendy and two other people of Mexican origin, Sáenz's office confirmed the arrest of two men from Colombia who, according to Wendy's testimony to the authorities, threatened to deport her while claiming they were immigration agents.
"They told me that they were immigration and that they could deport me if you don't pay, that we can deport you because I didn't have money to be in this country," Coronado said.
As a result, migrant advocates say that word spread lime wildfire that among the asylum seekers that the people wearing the red vests (city welcoming center workers) using a red van were kidnapping and holding migrants for ransom and they refused assistance from the city workers.
"The city workers said that migrants refused to got on the van and transported to the welcoming center," said one. "They believed the city workers were part of a plot to kindnap them and hold them for ransom and there was ahuge drop off in migrants coming there."
Criminal charges could be in the offing against the two men, regardless of the immigration status of the victims.
"The constable's department and federal agencies are here to try to support and protect victims, especially those who have been victims of suspects posing as officers, to try to take some kind of advantage or abuse," Pct. 2 Constable Abel Gomez told Lerma.
Regarding the victim's statement, the RGV News teams tried to communicate with officials from the immigrant welcome center to find out if they are aware that this was happening and what measures they will implement in this regard, to prevent this crime, but had not received an answer.
22 comments:
mojados think they can do anything they want THIS IS NOT MATAMOROS NI MEJICO IDIOTAS.
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO — En su concierto como una de las artistas principales de la segunda jornada del festival Axe Ceremonia de la Ciudad de México, la rapera británica M.I.A pidió un minuto de silencio por los migrantes muertos en un incendio ocurrido en un centro de detención en la fronteriza Ciudad Juárez.
En el incendio de la noche del 27 de marzo murieron 40 personas, según la más reciente cifra oficial dada a conocer el lunes, y decenas resultaron heridas. El fuego surgió por una protesta por las detenciones de migrantes por parte de las autoridades mexicanas.
Hacia la mitad de su concierto del domingo por la noche en el escenario principal del festival, M.I.A apareció con una gorra brillante debajo de la cual llevaba un manto con parches multicolor de camisetas de equipos de fútbol.
Matamoros mafia
Everywhere
Right Ms. Mayor candidate
Go after the rich and famous your friends not the poor. Always looking to look good at the cost of los pobres pinche mamon.
GO AFTER THE REAL RATAS!!!
Funny how no one invites the Sheriff office to big operations like this... Do you all wonder why??? Do the math and know that Eric Garza takes a cut for stuff like this by not enforcing the law even if he is not a cop.
The show goes on
April 3, 2023 at 9:12PM
What you mention has been going on, that I know of, since the time of Alex Perez. Most people who seek political positions do it for the "bribe." Being bribed is part of the equation. Totally sad and disappointing but such is life.
Sheriff Garza doesn't take money. He reveals too much information that can get people killed. Like the father and son who were found by the side of the road. Sheriff got them killed by talking too much.
Interested in how trevino obtained that property and when
Was it a tax foreclosure?
Did he buy it from city
Did he get preferential treatment a la tony martinez?
So what's new? This has and will be going on FOREVER. Why do ya al' think this cherife was elected? So the rich and famous and el RATISMO will continue into the next century. FACT
DIMMER THAN A ONE WATT LIGHT BULB, AND THEY DON'T MAKE EM...
y el d a?
Arturo Trevino es un tipo malo y malvado. No me sorprendería su participación.
Turi kidnapping people so he can enslave them to work at his shitty drive thrus
Its not collusion it crimminal where's the DA? Oooppps, no action they are rich and famous.
34 felony counts for falsifying business records.
Arturo Trevi* thinks we forgot that his brother wasn’t dealing arms to the Mexican cartel, well, we haven’t, as they say, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree!
Always knew Arturo was a crook. He looks, smells, and walks like a crook! Hope they get to the bottom of it ASAP! trevi and his family know they’re dark past and have a history of involvement with dealing arms to the Mexican cartels, not surprised by this!
If the Democrats through the years would have created immigration policies these type of crimes wouldn't exist today.
Donde esta Turi. He hasn't posted anything. He hasn't complained about how much Brownsville sucks. That Matamoros has more things than Brownsville. Yet, he makes USA dollars and pays in Pesos. Now we know where he gets his workers for pennies to man his drive thrus?
Bien cayadito el Turi y Pedro Cardenas. Donde estan cabrones. Salgan.
No Sheriff Garza did not get them killed. The dead guys did it on their own but being part of the cartel.Sooner or later they were going to get killed. Sheriff had nothing to do with it. Nice try trying to blame him.
Juan y el BPUB Gran robo $140 million? any chance the folks will see a refund bfore the may elections? just asking? maybe we get a miracle? maybe?
Turi and Captain Bob are cut from the same pattern. They are bottom dwelling predators to the max.
Try telling a jury that you didn't murder someone because the victim was going to die anyway or eventually. You're dumber than the stupidest chicano at Gladys Porter High.
April 6, 2023 at 2:43 AM
and also los mojados at rancho de pendejos y que van al san jose acacamedia (la otra mitad se quedo adentrro). MORONS
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