The 27-year-old Mexican was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping several migrants in Texas and demand a ransom for their release, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

Edgardo Hernandez Zamora On June 8, he pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to holding several migrants against their will and threatening to harm them unless their relatives paid for their release.

A Mexican man was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for events that occurred on February 13, 2023 when authorities raided a home in the border city of Laredo, Texas.

Police arrived on the scene after receiving information that the house foreigners were detained.

During the investigation, authorities heard loud knocking from a window inside the house and they saw the men crying and screaming in Spanish, “They are kidnapping us,” the Justice Department statement detailed.

You might be interested > MSF reports 70% increase in sexual violence against migrants in Tamaulipas

Authorities determined that several migrants were being held against their will while Hernandez Zamora demanded salvation from his relatives.

The Mexican threatened to hurt them physically and that They won’t see their families again unless they comply. One relative paid $3,500 as part of the ransom payment.

Hernandez Zamora was detained along with Adrian Ramirez, 20, and Adrian Ramirez-Vazquez, 39, both from Mexico, who They also pleaded guilty to their involvement in this criminal conspiracy and were sentenced to 48 and 60 months in prison, respectively.

Zamora’s two accomplices They will be involved in deportation proceedings after serving a prison sentence.

(EFE)