2 men charged with kidnapping, child abuse in Las Cruces human trafficking case
A traffic stop on Interstate 24 in May resulted in the arrest of two men for kidnapping and child abuse.
Saul Rojas Villa and Antonio Guerra Garcia were charged with the crimes after being discovered trafficking people across the U.S./Mexico border.
Villa was driving the vehicle during the traffic stop by a new Mexico State Police officer May 29.
Inside the vehicle were 11 "undocumented immigrations" in the rear of the vehicle and two children - an 11 and 5 years old - in the front of the car.
Garcia told the officer he was the children's uncle but investigators learned the men were paid to transport the children across the border. The children, according to a news release from the Department of Public Safety, said Garcia and Villa kept the them in the car once they crossed the border instead of allowing them to turn themselves into Border Patrol agents as planned by the children's mother who lives in Mississippi.
Both men are being held in the Doña Ana County Detention Center.
Jessica Onsurez can be reached at jonsurez@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: 2 men charged with kidnapping, child abuse in human trafficking case
