Texas girl charged with holding 17 undocumented immigrants hostage

A Texas girl has been accused of holding over a dozen undocumented immigrants hostage in her dwelling, threatening to deprive them of meals and water and refusing to allow them to depart till they "labored off" 1000's of dollars of "debt."

Manuela Magdalena Jimon Castro, 30, of Friona, was charged with "alien harboring": holding 17 undocumented people, together with two minors, captive, the U.S. Legal professional's Workplace for the Northern District of Texas stated Thursday.

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Castro, together with a member of the family, allegedly partnered with an unlawful immigrant smuggling operation to carry the people of their dwelling and never permit them to go away till they labored off $11,000 or $12,000 in "debt."

Authorities have been tipped off by California regulation enforcement, who acquired a tip from a girl claiming her sister was being held for ransom in Texas. The lady reported that her sister had traveled from Guatemala to Mexico with plans to hunt asylum in the USA, crossing the border with a Mexican cartel that held her captive.

In a subsequent interview with regulation enforcement, the girl stated she was compelled right into a automotive at gunpoint by people she believed to be part of a smuggling operation, earlier than shuttling her over the U.S. border to Castro's residence, the place she was detained till she paid $12,000.

When authorities performed a search of Castro's dwelling, they recovered 17 undocumented people indicating that the home was sparse in furnishings aside from mattresses and blankets unfold throughout the ground.

"They indicated that the smugglers had confiscated their cell telephones, and solely allowed intermittent contact with relations as a way to get hold of cash to pay their 'entrance charges.' A number of acknowledged that they believed they needed to keep on the residence in Friona till their entrance charge had been paid in full," the assertion learn.

If convicted, Castro faces as much as 5 years in federal jail.