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Posted on Tue, Nov. 28, 2006



Three Texans among five kidnapped from Mexico ranch near border


Associated Press

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico - Three men from Texas and two Mexican citizens were kidnapped from a hunting ranch near the U.S. border over the weekend, local prosecutors reported on Tuesday.

Witnesses told police that 30 to 40 armed men entered the La Barranca ranch late Sunday and took the five men away.

Erik Vasys, an FBI spokesman in San Antonio, late Tuesday confirmed witness reports identifying the American victims as Librado Pina Jr., 49, and his son Librado Pina III, 25, both of Laredo, Texas; and David Mueller, 45, of the Sweetwater, Texas area.

The ranch is located near the Coahuila town of Hidalgo, about 40 miles northwest of Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo and is used for deer hunting.

Santos Vasquez Estrada, the local head of the Coahuila state attorney general's office, said the ranch's owner, identified as the elder Pina, may have been the main target of the attack. U.S. authorities identified him as a businessman from Laredo, Texas.

The ranch's cook, Marco Ortiz, was also kidnapped.

The two other men seized, Mueller and Fidel Rodriguez Cerdan, of Monterrey, were apparently on a hunting trip at the ranch, which stocks deer for that purpose.

Vasquez Estrada said the witnesses - two other ranch employees who weren't kidnapped - said the attackers handcuffed the elder Pina and kept him apart from the others.

The assailants locked one of the ranch employees in a room and told him not to come out for two days, or they would kill him.

United Baptist Church in Laredo scheduled all-night prayer vigils for the five men.

"We live in a beautiful place but there's danger here on the border whether we want to admit it or not," Pastor Mike Barrera said in Wednesday editions of the Laredo Morning Times. Barrera said he is a close childhood friend of the elder Pina, who is a member of the church.

Mexican police got the first report of the kidnappings on Monday, said Vasquez Estrada, who also said the assailants stole five all-terrain vehicles, two pickup trucks, furnishings, appliances and even food and wine from the ranch.

The kidnappers do not appear to have made any ransom demand, he said.

Vasys said American authorities were conducting some work north of the border, but most of the investigation "is in Mexico because that's where the crime occurred."

Vasys wouldn't release details of the pursuit but characterized it as "ongoing, intense." He said the FBI has confidence in Mexican authorities.

"We're working very closely with our Mexican counterparts," Vasys said. "We're doing everything we can to get them back safely."

Rumor has it they found the guy from Sweetwater, beat up but alive. But so far that is an unconfirmed rumor (badly beaten and buried in a shallow grave but alive is what I heard). Don't take it for fact.

I hope they find everyone alive, but the rumor mill down here is buzzing that it was a violent gang (the Zetas?).

Posted on another board (I have not verified it independently):

Two kidnapping victims released



Web Posted: 11/29/2006 01:59 PM CST



Mariano Castillo
Express-News Border Bureau



LAREDO – Two of the five men who were kidnapped by masked gunmen at a ranch in Coahuila, Mexico near the border, were released Wednesday morning, a U.S. official said.

David Mueller, an American, and Monterrey-area resident Fidel Rodriguez Serdan are being transported to Laredo, where investigators will debrief them, the official said.

The pair, together with Laredo-based Customs broker Librado Piña Jr., his son, Librado Piña III and Nuevo Laredo resident Marcos Cantu were kidnapped from the Piña family’s Rancho La Barranca on Sunday evening.

Mueller, a resident of Sweetwater, and Rodriguez were found at about 1 a.m., according to the Website of Monterrey newspaper El Norte. The exact location of where they were found was unclear.

"We successfully located two people, who are in good health, but the search continues for Librado Piña and his son, as well as the ranch’s cook (Cantu), and we’re following several lines of investigation," Santos Vasquez, the Coahuila attorney general’s representative, told El Norte.

The whereabouts of the remaining three captives was unknown, the U.S. official said.

All it takes is a few shot with spire point bullets and they might think twice about kidnapping some hunters. It happened a few times in Rhodesia and after a few lackeys were shot with hunting rifles, the harrasement stopped and hunting continued on many ranches during the war. Total BS, we have a war with muslims now with mexican gangs. Where is Black Jack Pershing when you need him???

muslims would have a gun battle. no matter that there was 30-40 armed men ,or especially if there was.they came to kill you!
mexico? put up your hands and buy your way out,by far the safest way,south of the border

As an LE officer I recently attended some training on the border gang problem. To be honest, it scared the hell out of me!! Most folks have no idea of the war situation that is going on along the US/Mexico border - on both sides!! Car bombs, murders, beheadings, and mass graves are not unusual. I even saw a videotape of a gang member being executed . . . by another gang. LE officers are routinely seizing large weapons caches, grenades, and RPG's right over the border.

To be honest, Mexico is way down on my list of places to visit - I don't care how big the mule deer are!!

JDS