EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal judge has ordered two men from Guatemala to go to prison in connection with the discovery of a stash house in New Mexico where 11 migrants were being held for ransom.
Tomas Mateo Gaspar and Isaias David Jose allegedly took the migrants’ cellphones and shoes and told them not to leave under threats of harm during a period between Feb. 23 and March 2, 2025.
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Their families were told to pay up to $18,000 in ransom or else their relatives would be turned over to violent criminal organizations including the Zetas cartel and the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors alleged in court documents.
The FBI began investigating Gaspar and Jose after the relative of a migrant told them she had received a call demanding 90,000 quetzales ($11,750) for the release of her spouse. The migrant arrived in the U.S. last March and worked in Albuquerque, New Mexico, until his spouse lost contact with him on Feb. 23, court documents show…