A Border Patrol agent overlooks Mexico from Eagle Pass, Texas. A Honduran woman detained while trying to cross into the U.S. illegally claims she was kidnapped and held for ransom by human smugglers in Mexico. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection )
A Honduran woman detained while crossing into the United States illegally told federal agents in Texas that she had escaped human smugglers in Mexico who kidnapped her and held her for ransom.
Border Patrol agents took her into custody as she crossed the Rio Grande near the city of Eagle Pass, a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection read. The woman said the smugglers - knowns as "coyotes" - held her for ransom at a stash house in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which sits directly across from Laredo, Texas.
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"The woman was told she was to be held captive until her family met the smuggler's ransom demands," the federal agency said.
After three days, she escaped and journeyed around 100 miles north to the border town of Piedras Negras before attempting to sneak into Eagle Pass.
Matthew J. Hudak, the acting chief patrol agent of the Del Rio Sector, said the "smugglers have no regard for human dignity or safety in the pursuit of profits."
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Details of how she made the journey were not available.
Federal officials notified the Honduran consulate, the Mexican government, FBI and Homeland Security about the alleged kidnapping. It was not immediately clear whether the woman would be deported to Honduras.
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