2 charged in alleged immigrant kidnappings

DALE, Texas, July 10 (UPI) -- Two men have been charged with aggravated kidnapping, accused of holding up to 25 illegal immigrants against their will in a trailer, officials in Texas said.

A raid on the mobile home near Dale, Texas, resulted in the arrest of two men, claiming they kept the illegal immigrants in the single-wide trailer for at least four days, beat and starved them, and sexually assaulted three females, the Austin American-Statesman reported Friday.

Six men were rescued during the raid and are now at an undisclosed shelter in Austin, Bastrop County Sheriff Terry Pickering said. The other victims allegedly were loaded into a van by the kidnappers and taken to another location before authorities arrived, he said.

"We're obviously very concerned for these folks' well-being and safety," Pickering said. "At this point, we don't even know who they are."

One of the rescued men said the immigrants' families paid the suspects to smuggle the immigrants into the United States, the sheriff said. When they arrived, the group held them for ransom, demanding more money from their families in El Salvador and Honduras, Pickering said.