Criminals target criminals in U.S. kidnap capital - Phoenix

It is sometimes hard to know who to root for - ordinary citizens in Phoenix don't usually know that these things are going on. Enough word of it gets into the press to ensure that a lot of Phoenicians have concealed carry permits. ICE says the increase in abductions is a consequence of tighter border security cutting into criminals profits. On the other hand, if the border was really secure, then criminals from Mexico wouldn't be stalking other criminals in Phoenix would they?

Criminals targeted in U.S. kidnap capital | Reuters:
"PHOENIX (Reuters) - The criminal underworld in the sun-baked Arizona capital of Phoenix has long enjoyed the hot money profits from illicit smuggling of drugs and people over the border from Mexico.

But now its members are living in fear as they are stalked by kidnappers after their proceeds, authorities say.

Police in the desert city say specialized kidnap rings are snatching suspected criminals and their families from their homes, running them off the roads and even grabbing them at shopping malls in a spiraling spate of abductions.

'Phoenix is ground zero for illegal narcotics smuggling and illegal human smuggling in the United States,' said Phil Roberts, a Phoenix Police Department detective.
'There's a lot of illegal cash out there in the valley, and a lot of people want to get their hands on it.'

Last year alone, Phoenix police reported 357 extortion-related abductions -- up by nearly half from 2005 -- targeting individuals with ties to Mexican smuggling rings.
. . .
Police say the kidnappers are most often Mexican criminals, sometimes helped by local street gangs in Phoenix. They single out cash-flush targets from among the drug traffickers and "coyotes" -- as human smugglers are known -- in the criminal community.

Cell members may trail identified targets for a couple of days, looking for the moment to pounce. Others may be asking around, looking for likely victims, often big spenders "who throw their money around" in bars and clubs, Roberts said.

Aside from the smugglers themselves, victims have included their wives, girlfriends and even children. They are often held in darkened rooms where they are routinely beaten, tortured or sexually assaulted to extort a ransom that can range from $50,000 to $1 million."