Kidnappings on rise in South Texas: Officials say pressured cartels turn to abductions on U.S. side of the border for ransom

Houston Chronicle

EDINBURG, Texas -- Uriel ''Eli" Del Alba was rescued by police, but not before his kidnappers faded into the morning fog with a $150,000 ransom.

Seven gunmen abducted Del Alba from his ranch north of town in November, making the 57-year-old businessman one of the latest victims of a relentless crime wave plaguing the South Texas border.

Crime in Mexico —gangland decapitations have become a gruesome fad this year — has grabbed most of the headlines.

Meanwhile, the kidnapping trade has quietly flourished in the Rio Grande Valley, where Americans have about the same chance of getting abducted as they do in Mexico, officials say.

Since early 2004, there have been 78 kidnappings in Hidalgo County alone. And neighboring Starr County registered 19 kidnap or missing person cases in 2005 and 2006.

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Posted by Richard at December 18, 2006